Falling Forever
by Water Phoenix Star
Summary: Two archenemies. A mysterious girl with secrets. A missing boy.We all fall forever, together.  Dramione/Other problems. Includes extensive Science Olympiad references.
1. Chapter 1: What Is This?

It was a beautiful Saturday morning as Hermione walked slowly, almost fearfully, through the Forbidden Forest, although Professor McGonagall had assured her it was very safe, as the centaurs were watching her until she made it to where she was supposed to be going—a clearing, to be precise. Besides, Harry had already defeated Voldemort, and things were back to normal. Well, as normal as it ever got for a witch. Madam Pomfrey needed a plant that grew there, and Professor McGonagall seemed to think that Hermione was the best choice, seeing as she was Head Girl, had the best grades in her year barring Malfoy, whose grades were almost exactly the same as hers, and always impressed the teachers. The Autumn Ball was coming up in two weeks, as had been announced this morning, and Hermione knew that the herbs were for those people who overindulged in alcohol, since everyone in sixth and seventh year were permitted to drink Firewhisky. The thing about the Autumn Ball was that traditionally, the Head Girl always went with the Head Boy. Her fellow Head Boy was, surprisingly and unluckily, Draco Malfoy, though, astonishingly, he hadn't said anything about it to Ron and Harry, and Hermione had never told them. Having hated him for the better part of six years, she had been dumbstruck when they were assigned the posts of Head Boy and Girl. Or did she really hate him? She knew that she didn't despise Malfoy, not really, but Harry and Ron didn't know any better, though she did dislike him. The truth was, at her first sight of Draco Malfoy, she had felt slightly attracted to him—and then the Sorting Hat had placed them in different Houses. Even then, she had nursed the hope that he would come and talk to her, which never happened. Then she had made friends with Harry and Ron, and Draco began talking to her, all right, but it was only to insult her. Second year, when Draco had singled her out of all the other Muggle-borns and had shouted, "You'll be next, Granger!" instead of being frightened or, indeed, hating him for it, she had felt like he was just playing—until she had actually gotten Petrified. In her third year, even when Draco had tried to get Hagrid fired, she hadn't really minded him, but then, she felt like Malfoy needed to get lost. Then she had slapped him, and for a few days afterward, she felt horrid about it—though not at the time, because Malfoy had been riling her up, and Ron and Harry were congratulating her. In her fourth year, when Malfoy had made those Potter Stinks badges and offered one to her, she had felt a jump in her stomach, because it might have been the first civil thing he ever said to her, but refused it. And when Professor Moody had turned him into a ferret, she had felt truly bad for the Slytherin boy, and had apparently ruined the best moment of Ron's life for worrying about Draco. In her fifth year, Malfoy had busted the D.A., and it was then that she felt her first surge of pure anger and hatred toward him. But she had gotten over that quickly, and her feelings had dissolved back into nonchalance, but with more dislike toward him. In her sixth year, she had found out, to her surprise, that he was taking every single class with her, from Potions to Arithmancy, from Defense Against the Dark Arts to Ancient Runes, and all the others beside. And since all the NEWT students had their classes together so it was all four Houses, she had seen Malfoy every day of sixth year for prolonged periods of time. And then, she had gotten stuck with him on various projects for her grade. Why couldn't she have had anyone else as her partner, for heaven's sake? They had worked together on six projects throughout the year, and though the result itself was fine, they bickered and insulted each other constantly. Now they were Head Boy and Girl, and therefore spent even more time with each other, though Hermione hated every moment of it. Sighing, she turned back to the task at hand, and continued walking to the hidden meadow.

As soon as she arrived, she saw that it really was a nice place, full of flowers, birds, and a small, clear pond. The grass was wonderfully green, and the sun peeking through the leaves was a very pretty effect. Then she spotted another student lying asleep in the grass on the other side of the meadow, which surprised her immensely, seeing as any student would have to get through the Forbidden Forest to get here. The student was a boy with a pale, pointed face and silvery-blond hair…oh no. Malfoy, here? Then she saw the quills and parchment strewn around him, along with a couple of textbooks. He had come here to study, obviously, and had fallen asleep at some point. Looking at his face now, when he was sleeping, made a huge difference. For one, he wasn't sneering or smirking. He was actually smiling, and although it was a tiny smile, it made a huge difference. For another, he looked as if the world had been lifted from his shoulders. He looked like he was five years younger, and like there was never a friendlier person in the world. Hermione supposed she should wake him up, but why not let him sleep for a little longer while she found the herbs? He looked so peaceful that it seemed a shame to wake him before she had too.

Fifteen minutes later, Hermione finished with picking the herbs –they had been very easy to find—and turned to wake Malfoy. Kneeling down, she shook his shoulder gently, saying, "Hey. Malfoy. Wake up." His eyelids fluttered open, and he sat up very fast, rubbing his forehead.

"What? Granger? What are you doing here?" Malfoy asked.

"Madam Pomfrey needed some herbs, and I got sent to go fetch them. Ironically, they were in this meadow, where you were sleeping."

"I wasn't always. I just fell asleep. Haven't had much sleep over the past few days; it's been kind of stressful." Then he seemed to realize who he was talking to, and said, "Why am I telling you this?"

"I don't know, but we need to get back to the castle. Come on, Malfoy."

"Right. Let me get my books first. I'm done with my homework, anyways."

"Hurry." Hermione tapped her foot while Malfoy picked up his strewn parchment, quills, and books and placed them in a bag, while she herself fumed over the fact that she had not finished her homework. Then he stood up and motioned for her to follow him.

"Why do I have to follow you?" Hermione demanded.

"Because, Granger, I know a safe way through the woods that wizards and witches alone can walk. Now come on."

Hermione followed Malfoy on an invisible path, because it looked no different than the rest of the forest, but apparently was, because she didn't see any creature coming out to meet them. When they finally exited the woods in front of Hagrid's cabin, Hermione bade Malfoy good bye and walked away.

Hermione delivered the herbs to Madam Pomfrey, who exclaimed with excitement over them, and then returned to the common room, where Harry and Ron were struggling with their homework.

"Ah, excellent, Hermione's here. Now you can tell us exactly how…umm…" Ron checked the homework assignment, "bezoars and Golpy thingy's law are mixed together to make an antidote for venom and poisons and what principles relate to it."

Hermione sighed and shook her head. From then till dinner, she helped to two boys through their homework while finishing her own, still fuming about the fact that Malfoy had finished before her. During this, a second year had run in, carrying a scroll of parchment and giving it to Hermione, then running away as fast as his legs would carry him. The scroll told her that Professor McGonagall wanted to see her after breakfast tomorrow about the ball. After dinner, she returned to her dormitory, where the other seventh year Gryffindor girls were gathered. Lavender giggled as Hermione walked in, beckoning for her to join them. Hermione reluctantly put down her bag and sat down next to Parvati, while Phoenix, another seventh year girl, rolled her eyes.

"We were just talking about who's the best looking boy in our year so we can ask him to the Autumn Ball," Parvati said, smiling hugely. "Who do you think it is?"

"I…erm…well…" Hermione stuttered, but Parvati hadn't finished.

"I think it's definitely Draco Malfoy. I mean, forget our year! He's the cutest boy in the whole school!"

"And he always has been, ever since he set foot in Hogwarts," Lavender added breathlessly. Hermione rolled her eyes. She had heard many girls talk about the charms of Draco Malfoy ever since their first year.

"Well. Even more so than Cedric Diggory?" Hermione asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"Oh, infinitely more so. If Draco had been in seventh year that particular year, he would have gotten more attention than all the other boys put together!" Parvati exclaimed.

"Have you seen his face? Pale, but in a good way, his lips pink and soft-looking, his nose is perfect, his eyes…well, they're so beautiful! They're silver, framed in blond eyelashes and they're just so big! And his hair! Silver and gold mixed together, that's what his hair looks like. Then, there's the fact that he's tall, and he carries himself with poise. He is _sooo_ gorgeous," Lavender sighed. Hermione snorted, and Phoenix laughed mockingly.

"Didn't you go out with Ron last year?" Hermione asked Lavender

"Yeah, but Ron's looks are nothing, and I repeat, _nothing_, compared to Draco Malfoy's," Lavender exclaimed passionately.

"I totally agree with Lavender. He is _the_ cutest boy you could ever imagine," Parvati said, a dreamy look on her face. The rest of the evening passed this way, Lavender and Parvati going on and on about Malfoy, and Hermione being disgusted most of the time. Then Hermione reminded them that the Head Boy always went with the Head Girl, and they stopped for a little while, but then started up again. Finally, when they all went to bed, Hermione was quite glad for it.

The next morning, everyone was twittering about who they should ask out to the Winter Ball. She, Harry, and Ron walked around groups of girls, listening to their conversation. The name "Draco Malfoy" was mentioned at least a dozen times that she heard before she entered the Great Hall, though she doubted that Harry and Ron noticed. They were talking desperately, and turned to Hermione.

"Hermione, the Autumn Ball is coming up, and I have problems with asking out a girl," Ron said desperately to Hermione. "Harry didn't have a problem since he's already asked Ginny, but the boys were up half the night discussing which girl to ask out."

"Well, I think that beats five hours of hearing how _gorgeous_, how impossibly _cute_, and how _lovable_ Draco Malfoy is," Hermione said casually. Harry accidentally spat out his pumpkin juice, spraying Ginny, who had been sitting across from them, and Ron choked on a tremendous bite of potato.

"They said Malfoy was what?" Harry managed to breathe out.

"Cute, hot, gorgeous, lovable, handsome…you get the idea. Lavender also described his fine features in detail, and both of them were swooning over him. And on our way to breakfast, you probably didn't notice, but all the girls were discussing Malfoy—and not in a bad way. "

"I do not believe this. Malfoy is the most self-absorbed git imaginable," Ron said, seemingly recovered and stuffed three pieces of French toast into his mouth at once.

"I wonder who he's going with. He must've had fifty girls ask him to the ball already, if what you're saying is anything to go by. I'm betting it's Pansy Parkinson," Harry said, taking another swig of pumpkin juice.

"Well, then you would lose money," Hermione said, watching Harry closely.

"So you know who the prat's going with, now, do you?" Ron said, having swallowed his toast.

"Yes."

"Who then?" Harry asked, munching on cereal.

"Me."

"WHAT?" both Harry and Ron shouted at once, spitting out whatever they had in their mouths, again spraying the unfortunate Ginny, who looked revolted at all the food coming towards her and muttered a spell to clean her robes.

"You're going with _Malfoy_?" Ron said incredulously. "Why?"

"I didn't choose it! The Head Boy has to go with the Head Girl, and seeing as he's Head Boy and I'm Head Girl, we really can't do anything else!" Hermione said.

"Wait…Malfoy's Head Boy? Then how come he hasn't been lording it over us?" Harry asked, perplexed.

"That imbecile is Head Boy? How come we didn't know?" Ron asked.

"You're not very good with keeping up on school news, are you? You really should know who the Head Boy and Girl are."

"Well, obviously, you're Head Girl, but Malfoy as Head Boy? That's not normal!"

"Well, he gets excellent grades. Actually, his grades are almost the exact same as mine, maybe a little higher or lower, but not by much."

"And you're _sure_ that Malfoy's actually earning those grades and not having his father buy them for him?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Yes; I've actually seen him in the library and working."

"Well then. You two've got your problems with the ball all sorted out; what about me?" Ron said, panicked.

"Sorted out? You think I want to go with Malfoy? And Ron, why don't you ask Lavender? You went out with her last year," Hermione said.

"No! She still hasn't forgiven me for that. I think I'll have a go at Susan, maybe," Ron said miserably, referring to the seventh year Hufflepuff girl that they had met two years previously.

"Meanwhile, I have a meeting with Professor McGonagall about the ball in twenty minutes, so if you'll excuse me," Hermione said, rising. "See you later!" she called, and ran out of the Great Hall.

Hermione walked slowly down the hallway to Professor McGonagall's office, and opened the door. She found Malfoy already standing there, arms crossed and looking bored. Professor McGonagall wasn't there yet, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, Granger, since it is custom and tradition, I suppose I am going to the ball with you. But of course, one of us must ask the other formally. Since I am comfortable with asking anyone out, I will do it. So, Granger, will you go to the ball with me?"

"I don't have a choice, do I? So, yes, I suppose I'll go with you."

"Perfect. You have to dance with me anyways, you know. That's also tradition—the Head couple always opens up the ball." Just then, the door opened again, and Professor McGonagall entered.

"Good morning, Miss Granger and Mister Malfoy. I suppose you know that you must attend the ball together as a couple?" Both Malfoy and Hermione nodded. "Very well, very well. Now, the Head Boy and Girl also do much of the planning for the ball. I expect you two to come up with decoration committee, rule enforcing squad, food committee, clean up committee, entertainment board, and so on. You will both be opening the dance together, and at the end of the ball, each of you will make a speech, and we will recognize the prefects. There is much to be done, and both of you will be excused from one class per day to work on this. During your free periods and weekends, meet up with each other. You both have a lot of work to do, and the ball is in two weeks. I expect you to begin working immediately. You will both be very busy, but I am sure you can handle it. Here is a list of all the committees necessary to the ball. You are dismissed." Professor McGonagall handed them both a piece of parchment with all the preparations for the ball listed down, and ushered them out of her office and they walked away.

"So, Granger, lots of work to do. Meet up with me in an hour in that clearing we were in yesterday." Malfoy smirked and walked away, leaving Hermione walking alone toward the Gryffindor common room. Harry and Ron were waiting for her there.

"So, what did McGonagall want?" Harry asked.

"She wanted to make sure that we—that is, Malfoy and I—knew that we would have to attend the ball together, and that we needed to make preparations. Speaking of, would you two be on a committee, or board, or squad for the dance?"

"What is there?" Ron asked.

"Let's see…food, entertainment, clean up, dance lessons, rule enforcing, decorating, medicine administration…that's it," Hermione answered.

"I'll do food," Ron said immediately.

"And I'll do entertainment," Harry volunteered. Hermione smiled and wrote down their names on a piece of parchment with their committees.

"Hey, can I do decorating?" It was Ginny. Hermione nodded, and scribbled it down. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan came down, and looking over Hermione's shoulder, volunteered to do entertainment and food. Neville Longbottom volunteered for medicine administration.

"Dancing…who in the world would teach dancing?" Dean asked, making a face.

"I don't know, but I need to go now. I need to see someone about the ball," Hermione said, and hurried toward the Forbidden Forest.


	2. Chapter 2: It's a First

A/N: Before I start, I would like to thank some people.

foreverandaday97: thanks for being the first one to read my story (exactly forty seven minutes after I uploaded it, in fact. Or at least, that's when you reviewed it), and also, thanks for your compliment. It really means a lot to me, since this is my first story and I wasn't sure how well it would do.

JuDJaZ82: thanks for putting me on your Story Alert. I mean, I don't know if you do this a lot, but again, it means a lot to me.

Disclaimer: I don't own the character, movies, or publishing rights of Harry Potter.

I also need a beta reader. Anyone up for the job?

The next two weeks passed in a blur for Hermione. Not only was she trying to fit in all her homework and classes, she was also trying to organize all the committees and make all the arrangements for the ball. She and Malfoy were seeing more of each other than ever, much to hers, Ron's, and Harry's displeasure, but she had to admit that Malfoy was very helpful. Not only did he help her considerably, he also split the work between the two of them and his plans were actually quite good. Hermione found herself warming up to Malfoy considerably.

On the day of the ball, the Gryffindor common room was packed as everyone chattered about the upcoming ball. Hermione was in the girls' dormitory, trying to make herself look acceptable. It was five o'clock; both Lavender and Parvati were up there too, dressing themselves and giggling all the while. Hermione pulled on her own robes, which were a beautiful turquoise blue that hugged her figure, accentuating her curves. No matter that it was Draco Malfoy she was going with; she still had to look good, since she was appearing in front of the whole school. The upper part of her hair, much less bushy nowadays and curly, was tied into an elegant knot, while the rest of it was allowed to flow down her back. Her hair was entwined with gold threads, accentuating the hues of her hair. Parvati had insisted on Hermione using lip gloss, and Lavender painted Hermione's nails, but she refused to do anything else in terms of makeup. She stood back to admire the effect, and even she had to agree that she looked very nice. Parvati and Lavender both oohed and aahed over her. Hermione smiled and spent the rest of the evening before the ball helping Lavender and Parvati to look exactly the way they wanted to look.

At half past six, she made her way down to the Great Hall, catching whispers and glares as she passed by other students. The ball was to start at seven and end at one in the morning. As she entered the Hall, she found Malfoy already there, dressed in robes of royal blue velvet with silver cuffs. He actually looked quite nice, and as she came toward him, he offered his arm to her with just the hint of a smile.

"You look very nice today, Granger," Malfoy said.

"Thanks, but today I'm Hermione, not Granger."

"Then I'm Draco, not Malfoy. If you call me Malfoy, I shall call you Granger."

"Fine. You look very nice too…Draco."

"Thank you. Now, shall we go to our places?" Draco said, actually smiling now. Hermione was surprised to see what a difference it made. His eyes, usually cold as ice, now looked like shining moons, and it gave his face a very handsome expression. His voice, too, was much warmer than its usual icy sneering. They sat down at their table at the head of the room. The House tables were gone; in their place were about two hundred circular tables that seated about ten each. There was a long rectangular table at the front; that was where Hermione and Draco would sit, along with the other teachers and staff, plus a few representatives from the Ministry of Magic. Draco now looked very relaxed, and he was truly smiling, which made Hermione think twice about her prejudice toward him. The other students were now filing in, as were the staff and Ministry representatives, which included Percy; finally, all were seated, and Professor Dumbledore raised his hands for silence. Instantly, all noise died down.

"Good evening, everyone! Now, I have two words to say to you: Eat up!" There was much appreciative laughter at this, and Dumbledore sat back down. He told his plate what he wanted to eat; instantly, it appeared. The rest of the Hall followed suit. Hermione enjoyed the meal immensely, and Draco was very nice, making conversation, and, for once, civil. As the meal was finished and the last crumbs gone from the plates, Dumbledore stood up again and waved his wand. Everyone stood up and the tables flew out of the Hall, and a platform rose, along with the Weird Sisters. The teachers stood apart, and Hermione and Draco, bowed and curtsied to each other, and began dancing.

Hermione had never danced like this before. Oh sure, there had been the Yule Ball with Viktor, but Viktor was clumsy, and she herself didn't know how to dance. And then, there had been three other couples to hide them. But now, it was just her and Draco. And Draco had no hesitation about dancing, and he wasn't clumsy at all. Oh no. He was graceful and light on his feet. Pulling her close, he placed one hand on her waist and held her other hand, and she placed her hand on his shoulder. He was obviously a very accomplished dancer, and he helped her into the steps easily, while he himself performed complex steps that nonetheless matched the music and made her own, much easier steps seem intricate and difficult. He was a very, very good dancer, and even she no longer felt embarrassed to be dancing with him—at least she knew that she would seem like she knew what she was doing. The slow first song ended, and they bowed and curtsied to the crowd. Then, other couples began appearing on the dance floor, and she and Draco danced to another song.

Harry and Ginny with Ron and Susan made their way down to the Great Hall. When they entered, they found Malfoy and Hermione sitting together at the high table, and Malfoy had a relaxed smirk on his ferret face. Hermione simply folded her arms across her lap and stared across the room, apparently oblivious to Malfoy. Dumbledore opened the feast, and they all ate. Harry watched Hermione, and he noticed that she was talking with Malfoy, and it wasn't in an argumentive way, but Hermione seemed a little too formal. Harry smiled. It was just like Hermione to try to make civil conversation with their worst enemy. After they all finished dinner, they all stood, as the tables flew away and a platform rose with the Weird Sisters on it. Hermione and Draco curtsied and bowed, and then, as the music started, they began dancing. Harry could hardly believe his eyes. Hermione was usually a horrible dancer, but up there with Malfoy, she seemed like another entity. Her robes, the ways they flowed around her, hugging her figure. She seemed like a goddess on air, she danced so beautifully. And Malfoy was up there doing beautiful and difficult dance steps that enhanced the dance, and the two of them together was a sight to behold. Harry couldn't help but feel a little bit of respect for Malfoy at that moment. How well he danced! He only wished that he could dance half as well. The song ended, and Harry took Ginny to the dance floor, accompanied by Ron and Susan.

Draco had been truly wonderful today. He seemed like another person entirely from the person she had known for six years. After their second dance, he pulled them out into the rose gardens for a walk. She suddenly felt very tense, and Draco must have felt it too, since they were still linking arms. He loosened himself and stood in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Relax. This is a night for fun and relaxation, not tension about whatever class you're worried about," Draco said. Hermione didn't move a muscle, didn't even try to relax. Draco sighed and started rubbing the base of her neck gently in circles. She relaxed a little, though she didn't know why.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Muscle therapy. I've had it done to me so many times that I requested to learn it so I could do it for myself at Hogwarts. Therefore, I know how to make you relax." He continued rubbing, occasionally moving to other spots, her shoulders, and then his fingers trailed down her back, still rubbing. Hermione sighed. She could feel the tension leaving her in waves, and it felt so good. She didn't know why, but having Draco touch her was oddly comforting. Or maybe it was just the therapy. She could feel her body relax as the gentle rubbing continued. Suddenly, she realized how much taller Draco was—at least six inches taller. Not exactly knowing what she was doing, she let her head droop onto Draco's shoulder, resting it as she gently swayed. Then Draco Malfoy pushed her away and held her at arm's length. Then he moved closer…closer…his lips touched hers, and gently, he slid his arms around her, swaying slightly, deepening the kiss as much as she would let him. Hermione tried to pull back at first, and then realized how much stronger he was—like steel. After that she didn't refuse, didn't move; instead, she kissed him back. It felt right to do it, and she felt like there was ice and fire coursing through her at the same time. It was like being electrocuted, only it didn't hurt, and she had a sudden swooping sensation in her stomach, and she felt completely weightless, like she was walking on air. His mouth tasted very sweet, and she wrapped her arms almost unknowingly around his neck. Finally, he broke away and looked at her.

"I'm not apologizing for that, because I know you enjoyed it as much as I did," Draco said. Hermione nodded. She felt dizzy and confused. She had kissed people before, but none of them made her feel this way. Viktor's kisses were simply kisses—it had not sparked any real emotion. Her other two boyfriends who had kissed her had only made Hermione feel impure. But kissing Draco Malfoy had seemed more right than anything, and it awakened sensations within her that she had not even known she possessed. His eyes, like warm liquid silver, were watching her carefully, seeing if she was all right. She stared into those eyes…Lavender had been right. They were beautiful. _He_ was beautiful. For the first time, she could see how the other girls saw him—charming and nice, a boy who couldn't help being in Slytherin. Draco took her arm and walked her around the garden, commenting on how beautiful the flowers and plants were in moonlight, silver like Draco's eyes. For the first time, Hermione truly and fully appreciated how beautiful the gardens really were. They walked around for an hour or two, fully enjoying the Hogwarts rose garden. Then he took her arm and led her down to the lake, under a willow tree, where they sat and chatted amicably, looking out onto the lake, reflecting the moon and the stars. Here she was, sitting under a tree with one of her most hated enemies, whom she had just kissed and was walking around arm in arm. Oh, well. There were bound to be a few surprises in life. They sat and talked for another hour, and then went back into the Great Hall. Draco went to get drinks, and Harry and Ron found her.

"Well, how was it walking around with ferret face?" Ron asked, grinning.

"Oh, it wasn't that bad, actually. He walked me around the gardens and took me to the lake. We even had a few civil conversations." _Not to mention a kissing session,_ Hermione thought privately.

"Well, I'm glad to hear Malfoy didn't give you too hard of a time," Harry said, his arm draped around Ginny.

"It was actually quite enjoyable," Hermione said.

"Yeah, if you wiped out that little piece of filth," Ron said viciously.

"Excuse me, Weasel? _Little piece of filth_? I'll have you know that I am cleaner now than you'll ever be." Malfoy's voice, his normal one, cold and hard, sounded behind them. Hermione turned around. His eyes were no longer soft liquid; they had turned back into glittering ice. He took Hermione by the arm and said, "Come on. McGonagall wants to see us, for some reason." Hermione went with him, as he was dragging her away.

"Now, does Professor McGonagall really want to see us?" Hermione demanded as Malfoy pulled her away from Harry and Ron. "Or was it just a ploy to get me away from Ron and Harry?"

"No, she actually does want to see us. I wasn't lying." Just then, Professor McGonagall spotted them and walked over.

"Ah, good, Mr. Malfoy. You have found Miss Granger. Well, there is to be a international wizarding school meeting in a few months, and every school of magic in the world is sending two representatives. You two, as Head Boy and Girl, will be our representatives. I will give you more information on Monday. For now, enjoy the ball." Professor McGonagall swept away in a swish of tartan, leaving Hermione and Draco alone.

"Well, do you want to dance again?" Draco asked, his voice the softer, kinder version that he had used earlier. Hermione nodded, since she didn't know what to do, and again they danced.

For the next few hours, the two of them danced, talked and drank (but no Firewhisky). They watched other people get drunk and do ridiculous things, who were then presided over by the medicine administration team. Then, finally, came the time to make their speeches. Draco began first.

"From the time I was a little boy, I had always dreamed of going to Hogwarts, being a prefect, and possibly Head Boy. I dreamed of playing Seeker for a House Quidditch team. Those dreams came true for me, because I worked for them…"Draco continued for a few minutes, and then said, "So if you have dreams, work hard toward them, and if you're lucky, you'll be rewarded!" and finished. Now it was Hermione's turn.

"Well, see, I was raised by Muggles, and was what they called precocious. I always knew I was different from everyone else, and everyone excluded me. Then I came to Hogwarts and found two great friends, not to mention others who accept me and treat me kindly…" Hermione spoke for a few more minutes, and finished with, "So ever may you stay vigilant and just, and always be forgiving!" The crowd cheered, and the Head Couple smiled.

"Now, we would like to recognize the prefects," Professor McGonagall announced. "Please stand up as your name is called and remain standing. Abercrombie, Euan!" She called out the names of all the prefects, and at the end, she applauded them with the rest of the school joining in. Then Professor Dumbledore raised his wand hand and said, "And now, it is time for bed." The rule enforcing committee ushered the people nearest them outside, and as the crowd dissipated, she could see Draco smiling at her, those warm silver eyes locking on hers and breaking contact. They were the last to leave the Hall because the Head Couple always did so, and Draco bid her good night, asked her to breakfast the next morning and a day with him, and went to the Slytherin common room. Hermione herself went up to her empty dormitory, where she felt so full of happiness that she felt that she might burst. Then the door opened again, and Ginny came in and sat down on her bed.

"Well, how was it?" Ginny asked.

"How was what?"

"Going to the Autumn Ball with Malfoy."

"Oh, not bad. Actually, I had a lot of fun, and he was very amiable." Hermione fell silent.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me something? Tell me. Every. Single. Thing." So Hermione launched into a soliloquy about her evening, and Ginny sat all the way through it, though she gasped when she told her that she had kissed Malfoy. At the end of it, Hermione was still very happy, and glad that there was someone she could confide in.

"So let me get this straight. You're saying that Malfoy didn't insult you the entire evening, was friendly toward you, and then he _kissed_ you?" Ginny exclaimed at last.

"Well, yes, that's about right."

"What would Ron and Harry say if they knew?" Ginny said quietly. Hermione's head was suddenly clear.

"Oh, no, you won't tell them, will you? Please?"

"Of course not! I wouldn't tell anyone!" Ginny laughed. "Or I won't, if you don't tell anyone that I kissed Harry last night, if only by accident. We're still not going out. I've developed a rather strong liking to that Slytherin boy that Malfoy hangs around with."

"You mean Blaise Zabini? Ginny, last year you threatened to hex him!"

"Not anymore though. He's very adorable. Besides, you kissed Malfoy, so why can't I like Blaise?"

"Good point," said Hermione. "Well, good night."

"By the way, Hermione—when's the next time you're going to see Malfoy?"

"Tomorrow. He asked me to go to breakfast with him on a secluded area on the Hogwarts grounds, where no one is likely to find us. And, well, spend the entire day with him."

"First date on a Sunday? And all day long too? Tsk, shame on you. Good night, Hermione!" Grinning, Ginny left the room to go to her own dormitory. A few minutes later, Parvati and Lavender came in, while Hermione pretended to be asleep. And when she really did fall asleep, she dreamed about Draco.


	3. Chapter 3: Same, But Different

A/N: Thanks for the people who have read my story and enjoyed it. And now for a special request…please review. Thanks.

Sorry I took so long to upload. Teachers gave us a ton of homework.

P.S. The numbers you see below don't signify anything. They're just to separate author's note from the story.

Recap:

"_Good point," said Hermione. "Well, good night." _

"_By the way, Hermione—when's the next time you're going to see Malfoy?"_

"_Tomorrow. He asked me to go to breakfast with him on a secluded area on the Hogwarts grounds, where no one is likely to find us. And, well, spend the entire day with him."_

"_First date on a Sunday? And all day long too? Tsk, shame on you. Good night, Hermione!" Grinning, Ginny left the room to go to her own dormitory. A few minutes later, Parvati and Lavender came in, while Hermione pretended to be asleep. And when she really did fall asleep, she dreamed about Draco._

**ACTUAL STORY**

Hermione woke up, full of happiness. Her first "date", as Ginny put it, with Malfoy! Or Draco. Or whatever you wanted to call him. It was six thirty, and he'd asked her to meet him in the clearing at seven. She dressed quickly, took her schoolbag, and then slipped out onto the Hogwarts grounds and disappeared into the Forbidden Forest, humming to herself as she walked. At precisely seven, she entered the clearing, where Draco was lounging around, a basket and a bag at his feet.

"Hi," she said breathlessly, looking at Draco.

"Good morning, Granger," he replied. He waved a hand carelessly toward the spot next to him. "Come and sit down."

"I thought you weren't calling me "Granger" now," Hermione said, sitting down beside him.

"Oh, that was temporary. Just for last night. And you realize I didn't call you by name yesterday at all? I'm trying to not get into habit of calling you by your real name."

"Great. Thanks, Malfoy, that makes me feel a lot better."

"Ah, so I'm back to Malfoy now, am I? Well, that's fine by me. Now let's enjoy some breakfast." He leaned over and picked up the basket. "For breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All in this one little basket." Reaching in, he pulled out a plate of bacon, eggs, toast, and a goblet of pumpkin juice and handed it to Hermione. He did the same for himself, and the two of them began to eat, talking all the while. Hermione soon found out just how wrong she had been about Draco. He had had an abusive childhood, since his mother was not at home very often and his father had beaten him whenever he had felt like it, and he had known almost nothing about kindness until he had come to Hogwarts. It wasn't his fault; for nearly every day of his life since he had been three and until he was eleven, he had been beaten or otherwise abused by his father or the servants on his father's orders. Only his mother really cared much about him, and all those things he said about his father helping him out of tight spots was simply just a wormhole for everything else to mislead others. In fact, the only way he felt he could retaliate was by letting off some pent up anger on others. Hermione was really starting to feel sorry for him at this point—it made her own childhood seem like a fairy tale. He had seemed so wistful when she told him about her own childhood. After their rather long breakfast, Draco reached inside his bag and pulled out a textbook. It was for Arithmancy, her favorite subject. Hermione smiled. Draco shrugged.

"Well, I figured we had better do something productive, so why not study?"

The rest of the day passed pleasantly, studying, talking, joking, eating—they were both very content with this new turn of events. They stayed for as late as possible, until it was six thirty. Hermione checked the time, saying, "Oh my, we had better go. And we should really keep this a secret—from everyone except maybe one person, a confidant, of sorts." Draco smiled and said, "I agree. But before we go…" He pulled her close again, and Hermione found herself staring into those gorgeous silver eyes, and then he pulled her in for the kiss, which lasted much longer than the previous one. As their lips met, Draco's teeth nicked Hermione's lip, and then he started to really kiss her. Hermione found herself feeling like she was floating on air, as she returned his kiss, clinging tightly to him, until he pulled away from her. She was out of breath, panting, while he merely looked slightly ruffled, emphasis on slightly. She could not believe it—she had kissed Draco Malfoy again! Twice in two days! Together they walked back up to the castle, and went their separate ways.

Sunday morning, Harry yawned as he woke up. Nine thirty. No doubt Hermione was already up, sitting in the common room reading and fuming, waiting for him and Ron while Ginny asked Hermione questions about everything. Ron himself was snoring heavily, still obviously asleep. Harry lobbed a pillow at Ron's head, and Ron woke up.

"Huh? What?" Ron groaned.

"Get up, Ron. If you don't hurry, Hermione will be telling you off all day long, and Ginny will be mad at me. "

"Ugh, I hate it when Hermione tells me off."

"Then you'd better hurry," Harry laughed. He changed, waited for Ron, and set off together for the common room, fully expecting Hermione to get mad at him and Ron for sleeping late. However, there was no one in the common room except for Colin and Dennis Creevey, so Ron and Harry went off to breakfast.

They found Ginny sitting at her usual spot, but there was no Hermione. Harry and Ron grinned: maybe Hermione had gotten off to a late start today! Now they would finally be able to tell her off about something. But Hermione did not show up, so Harry asked Ginny, "Ginny? Where's Hermione?"

"That's really none of your business," snapped Ginny. "If Hermione wanted to tell you, she would've, and if she doesn't, leave her be." Harry and Ron shrugged, and they both continued eating. They figured that Hermione would probably show up sometime soon after breakfast.

However, they were very wrong. Hermione did not make an appearance until around seven that evening, looking slightly flustered and very happy.

"Where were you, Hermione?" Ron asked, snapping shut his Charms book. "You haven't been around all day!"

"Yes, where did you disappear off to?" Harry asked, his eyes flicking across a piece of parchment. "We've been dying here! I can't understand a thing about this assignment from Flitwick, and Ron is no better. And of course, you've finished all your homework. Where were you?"

"I was studying in a place not likely to be bothered."

"Hermione, you're not telling us something," Ron said.

"It's not really your business, is it?" Hermione snapped.

"Why won't you tell us?" Harry whined. "You've obviously told Ginny, but she wouldn't tell us what you were up to!"

"And it's a good thing too! Ginny is very loyal and keeps her word, and she's a very good friend."

"Where _did_ you go, Hermione?" Ginny asked, running down the stairs. "You said someplace no one was likely to find you, but I don't think you were in the castle. Were you?"

"No, but I was in the grounds and I wasn't breaking any rules. And just so you don't get any ideas—" Hermione pointed at Harry, "-the place where I go is not visible on the Marauders' Map."

"Thanks for crushing my dreams, Hermione," Harry grumbled. "I was really looking forward to the next time you disappeared so I could see what you're up to."

"So you want to watch me study?"

"Well, seeing as we already do that, it's not really that big of a deal," Ron explained.

"Which means you waste enough time already and should really finish your homework."

"Help us, please!" both boys cried in unison. Hermione smiled indulgently, though rather exasperatedly. The boys stayed up until one finishing homework, and then went up to bed. Ginny was still standing around.

"All right, now that the boys are gone, I want to know what happened with you and Malfoy today, every detail." Hermione sighed, and told Ginny everything. Ginny ran a hand through her hair as Hermione finished.

"Well, Malfoy _is_ good looking, however much you don't want to believe it. After you told me to stop pursuing Harry, the first person I went after was Malfoy. And I did ask him out once."

"Yes, well, Parvati and Lavender have been kind enough to already tell me about their secret crush on Draco and their perception of him. I wonder exactly how many girls like him?"

"Loads; did you see how many girls asked him out to the Autumn Ball?"

"Er…no. After it became official that we were going together, I stopped paying attention to the who's-asked-who circle."

"Well, girls were practically lining up to ask him. I can't really blame them. I mean, I know that Ron wants me to go with Harry and all—not that I'll ever do it—" Ginny sighed, "—but he just doesn't look like Malfoy. Malfoy really is the cutest boy in the school. You have no idea what some girls would trade to be in your place."

"Well, then I count myself lucky."

"You should; I don't think he's ever kissed a girl before a date, anyways."

"Doesn't the Autumn Ball count as a date?"

"Oh no, for one, neither of you actually wanted to go with each other. Second, it was mainly a dance. And third, it was your duty as Head Girl."

"I guess…" Hermione said.

"So, you've told me all about him kissing you and how it made you feel…but you've never mentioned this and I want to know…is he a good kisser?"

"Oh, yes. He's a wonderful kisser. Much better than Viktor, Terry, or Anthony, at least. I don't know, but I think he may even be a better kisser than Harry."

"I'm sure of it," Ginny said grimly. "I'm guessing he's had a lot more experience."

"Oh, don't say that! I'm sure Dean was fine!"

"He was; he's just no Malfoy. I kissed Malfoy once, and he didn't go very far at all, since I was forcing him, but it was apparent just from that that he's an abnormally good kisser."

"You kissed Draco?"

"Yes, and it was very enjoyable, it was only that he didn't want to kiss me, so he got away. Do you know how strong he is?"

"Yes. Remember? He kind of forced me to kiss him the first time until I succumbed."

"Ahh…and he's strong as steel!"

"He also has very good grades, and he's a very organized person."

"But his grades can't compare to yours, can they?"

"They can; our grades our nearly exactly the same. His may be a little higher or lower, but not by much, one point maximum difference."

"Wow! Smart, cute, sweet, clean, strong, not overprotective, a good kisser…sounds like the perfect boyfriend."

"Ginny! He's not my boyfriend!"

"Fine, fine. I was just saying. Don't let Harry or Ron know, especially Ron. They won't understand at all."

"Let's go up to bed now."

"Sure. When's the next time you see Malfoy?"

"Tomorrow, immediately after breakfast. We've got Ancient Runes together first thing."

"How many classes does he have with you?"

"All of them—he's taking the exact same classes."

"Wow. So you see him for hours a day."

"Yes."

"Well, then, Hermione, good night."

Hermione awoke the next morning, her dreams lingering with her for a moment. They had been sweet, beautiful, and they had all included Draco. It was very early; five o'clock. Since it was winter now, the sun had not yet risen. Hermione dressed, and went down to the common room, reading her Ancient Runes textbook, imagining Draco's face. He really was very charming when he wanted to be, and she could not think why she had disliked him all these years.

Ginny appeared beside her, and as usual, started peppering her with questions about anything and everything. She had enough sense not to bring up Draco, since there were other people in the common room. Finally, three hours after she had woken up, Harry and Ron descended from the stairs. Hermione closed her book.

"Finally! You two take forever, did you know that?" Hermione said. "Now come on, let's get down to breakfast, I've got Ancient Runes right after it, unlike you two, who have a free period. Remember, all classes start at nine, and it's eight already!" Hermione and Ginny marshaled the boys to the Great Hall, where Hermione ate quickly so as to go to Ancient Runes, and then hurried off to class thirty minutes early.

When she arrived at the classroom, it was deserted except for a certain person with sleek, white-blond hair, who was poring over some book or other. She came in and sat down at her usual seat beside him so as to be at the very front of the room, and he looked up.

"Good morning, Granger."

"Good morning, Draco."

"You're here early."

"You were earlier than I was."

"Good point, but still."

"What are you reading?"Hermione inquired,

"Hogwarts, A History. For the ten thousandth time, but it's a good book, so why not reread it?"

"Hah, and Ron and Harry said that I was the only person who's ever read it!"

"Well, then they were wrong."

"What are we doing today in Runes?"

"I think ancient Chinese stuff. That should be interesting, I mean, they basically worshipped dragons, phoenixes, and Qi Ling, whatever that is."

"Their dragons are different, though. I mean, they're like snakes with clawed feet, a regal head, horns…well, they just look very different from your average dragon."

"You've got that right. After all, I was named for dragons, wasn't? And I look nothing like those great big fire breathing serpents."

"I guess…today should make for an interesting lesson." At this point, other students began coming in, and Hermione suddenly realized how nice Draco smelled. It was like flowers, kind of, with fruit mixed in, and grass as well. It shouldn't have been a good combination, but it was, and it smelled simply intoxicating. It was sharp and clear, yet mulled at the same time, like moonlight. And he kind of smelled like moonlight and wind too, though she didn't know how. She breathed it in deeply, but very discreetly. Mmmm. He really did smell good.

Draco suddenly realized that there was a very nice smell by him. To him, it smelled of water and roses, sunlight and rain, sweet fresh air at the top of a mountain. Then he realized it was Hermione. Her scent was invigorating. He wondered how he could have missed it before.

The rest of the class was fine, by Hermione's standards, and she was extra awakened by the scent of Draco Malfoy next to her. It was truly one of the nicest things she had ever smelled, and the lesson passed in contentment.

Their next class was double Potions, taught by Professor Slughorn. Snape was still teaching D.A.D.A., and he was their first teacher to last more than a year at the job .As they entered the dungeons, Professor Slughorn, looking like a huge walrus welcomed them in. Hermione took her usual seat in between Harry and Ron, and waited for the lesson to begin.

"All right. Today we're going to list the effect of a love potion called Amortentia, which I introduced to you last year. Then, we're going to try to mix an antidote to it. So, you will notice there is a small cauldron of it in front of you. Make notes on what you smell, and share with your table. Three to a cauldron, please. You may begin." Slughorn finished speaking, and Ron, Harry, and Hermione leaned over the cauldron. Hermione, who liked to focus on the less obvious first, smelled parchment and ink, books, flowers, the Burrow, and the scent of the Gryffindor common room. She also smelled fresh grass and apples, and very faintly, the scent of her friends, family, and parent like figures, like Sirius, Mrs. Weasley, Matthew, her parents, Harry, Ron, Ginny, etc. Then she opened up to the more overwhelming scents. The first thing that hit her was a fragrance that smelled like moonlight and wind, like flowers with fruit and grass mixed in, sharp and clear, but mulled. It smelled like Draco. It _was_ Draco's scent. Hermione leaned back and scribbled down everything she smelled onto a piece of parchment, and leaned over the cauldron again, savoring the smell of Draco. Ron and Harry just finished writing down what they smelled.

"Well, Slughorn said to share what you smell with your table, so let's start," Harry said. "I'll go first. I smelled broomsticks and wind, Snuffles, the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley, Hogwarts, food, Hedwig, and Ginny."

"I'll go next," Ron said. "I smelled broomsticks, the Quidditch pitch, Mum and Dad, food, oh yes, definitely food, the Burrow, Honeydukes, and Zonko's. What about you, Hermione?"

"Parchment and ink, books, flowers, the Burrow, and the scent of the Gryffindor common room, to start with. Then there was fresh grass and apples, and all my friends, family, and family-like people. And then there was one smell that was a lot stronger than the rest. It smelled like moonlight and wind, with flowers, fruit and grass mixed in, sharp and clear, but all mixed together. And it actually smelled really, really good."

"How d'you smell moonlight?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, but I smelled it, and that's what it was."

"What was the smell?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Hermione lied. "But it did smell familiar."

A few minutes later, Professor Slughorn clapped his hands for attention. Since there were only twelve people there, it wasn't hard. He walked around, looking at their pieces of parchment.

"All right, now let's try making an antidote to it. Everyone should remember Golpalott's Third Law, and Amortentia abides by it. So, get started. You have one hour and twenty minutes. In the last twenty minutes, we will choose the most successful antidote and test it. Begin." Hermione had to think about what counteracted Draco's smell. The rest of it was fairly easy; she already knew the opposites of those. So what could be the opposite of Draco? While she thought about that, she mixed together the rest of her potion, which included written on book pages, frog spawn, and broken quills, though there was much more to it. What was Draco's opposite? Her? She didn't have any other guesses, so she cut off a little of her own hair and threw it in. The potion was now a reddish brownish color, like clay and was bubbling sluggishly. She threw in a carefully measured portion of Amortentia, and with a swirl of color and foaming, her potion turned a silvery gold color, like Draco's hair, and her potion was no longer bubbling thickly; it was leaping merrily around in the confines of her cauldron. She felt that she had done the most she could, and there were still ten minutes until time was up. She sat back and watched the rest of the class, eyes lingering on Draco. He was throwing in something that looked like lacewing flies, and stirring feverishly. She grinned. Next to her, Ron's antidote was issuing copious amounts of thick black smoke that smelled like putrid eggs, and Harry's potion looked like vomit and white vapor hung over it.

"Time's… UP!" Slughorn said, checking his watch. He walked around, looking at the potions, sometimes nodding, other times holding his nose or shaking his head. He reached their table last, and looked into Harry's cauldron, which now also smelled like vomit, and gave Harry a forced grin. He looked at Ron's potion, and immediately backed away. Then he saw Hermione's antidote, and a huge smile burst upon his face.

"I think Miss Granger has succeeded in making an antidote! Now it remains to be seen whether this antidote is individual or universal—or if it actually works at all in any way. Now, Mister Malfoy, I will need your help with this. Miss Granger, come up here too." Hermione walked up to the front, while Professor Slughorn whispered instructions to Draco, who nodded and conjured two goblets. He walked over to Hermione's potion and scooped up a gobletful, filling the other goblet with Amortentia. Harry and Ron threw him dirty looks as he dipped the goblet into the potions. Then he walked back up, and gave Hermione the Amortentia.

"Good, good, Draco. Now, Miss Granger, drink the Amortentia!" Professor Slughorn cried enthusiastically. Hermione downed the potion, and at first she felt nothing. Then slowly, a feeling of great desire for the boy standing across from her filled her, and her mind slowed, while her thoughts revolved around the boy—Draco, she understood his name was. Next to her, Professor Slughorn said, "As you can see, the Amortentia is taking effect. You see the way her eyes are fixed on Mr. Malfoy? This is very normal, because the potion is making her obsessed with Mr. Malfoy here. Now, Amortentia cannot create love, but it does create a powerful obsession and a desire for the person. Miss Granger may resort to drastic measures, if it helps her get closer to Mr. Malfoy. This is to show you the effects of Amortentia. Mr. Malfoy, go touch Miss Granger's shoulder." That wonderful boy with sparkling silver eyes walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. Hermione felt something like an electric jolt pass through her, and it was all she could do to stop herself from hugging him and kissing him as hard as possible. She didn't, because she had a feeling that Draco would not like it, but she did grab his hand that wasn't holding a drink and held it. She heard laughter and tittering from behind her, but she didn't really care. Then she thought, _I'll count to three and then I will kiss him as hard as I am able._ The boy looked over to the professor and mouthed something to him. The professor nodded, and the boy handed her the goblet, muttering in her ear, "Drink it." Hermione did so immediately; she would do anything to please this boy. Slowly, Hermione came back to herself. Suddenly, she realized that she was holding hands with Malfoy, and jerked her hand away, dropping the goblet as she did so. The class roared with laughter, and she felt herself blush.

Professor Slughorn beamed, and said, "That was excellent!" and came over to Hermione. He whispered in her ear, "Now, I want you to get the Amortentia and give it to Mr. Malfoy. Then, when I tell you to, give him the antidote and see if it works. If it does…we'll get to that. If it doesn't, I have an antidote." Hermione nodded, conjured two goblets, and got the Amortentia (in which she placed a single hair of hers) and the antidote, and brought them up. She placed the antidote on Slughorn's desk, and handed the Amortentia to Draco. After looking apprehensive for a moment, he took the goblet and drained it, and handed it back to Hermione. She put the empty goblet on Slughorn's desk as well. Slowly, Draco's eyes seem to cloud over slightly, his eyes still silver, but like there were thin clouds over the moon. Hermione became aware that his eyes were now traveling over her, lingering on certain spots. Professor Slughorn said, "Good, good, the potion has taken effect. Just to make sure, Miss Granger, go put your hand on Mr. Malfoy's shoulder." Hermione did so, and as soon as she did, Draco caught her around the waist. Then he wrapped his arms around her, and mashed his lips to hers, kissing her as hard as he could. Hermione's eyes flew open wide, and she struggled to get free. But he really was extremely strong. There was just no way to free herself from his clutches. She found herself pressed against Draco, him snogging her with all the strength he could muster, her struggling fruitlessly against him. The class was now roaring with laughter. Ron looked thunderstruck, his mouth hanging open, and Ernie was on the floor, laughing. Finally, Draco let her go. Hermione took the chance to get the goblet of antidote and said, "You should drink this," to Draco. Draco did so, and as he did, his eyes cleared once more, and Professor Slughorn was chuckling merrily.

"Oh, very good, Miss Granger! You have created a universal antidote! None of my students have ever made a working individual antidote to Amortentia on the first try, much less to say a universal one! Oh, very good indeed, Miss Granger. Fifty points for Gryffindor!" Draco still looked dazed from the potion, and Slughorn said, "Thirty points to Slytherin too, because you made the second best potion, which would have worked individually, and helped with our little demonstration. And an extra ten points for making it utterly hilarious."

Hermione hurried back to her seat, and put her remaining antidote into flasks, if she ever needed it again. She finished packing up just as the bell rang, and she, Harry, and Ron walked to lunch together.

"That was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life!" Ron said, as soon as he was out of earshot of Draco and Slughorn. "Did you see Malfoy? It looked like he was trying to snog your brains out. And I saw you struggling to get free; are you really that weak?"

"No, you try getting rid of Malfoy when he has his arms around you and is snogging the life out of you," Hermione retorted.

"Ugh, no, I'd never let him. Besides, we're both guys. That would be wrong on so many levels." Ron shuddered at the thought.

"I wonder what crime you committed to make Malfoy kiss you," Harry laughed.

"I gave him the most powerful love potion in the world, I suppose."

"He gave it to you too, but you didn't kiss him!"

"I was going to. And then he gave me the antidote before I could."

"Merlin's beard, I would have hated to be you then," Ron said.

"Ach, I have one thing to say about Malfoy—he's a filthy, slimy git," Harry said. "Being kissed by him—you have to have committed some horrible crime."

"Oh, be quiet!"

Sorry for leaving off so abruptly, but I think it's a good chapter; 4,306 words on the last count. Recommend this story to your other friends, will you? I'd love to get a few more reviews.


	4. Chapter 4:Summits and Friends

A/N: Thank you MissAmuletAngelPotter for your very uplifting comment. Very inspirational, since it makes me want to write more.

Please Review.

Anyone who reads this, please, please mention it to your other friends.

Recap:

"_That was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life!" Ron said, as soon as he was out of earshot of Draco and Slughorn. "Did you see Malfoy? It looked like he was trying to snog your brains out. And I saw you struggling to get free; are you really that weak?"_

_ "No, you try getting rid of Malfoy when he has his arms around you and is snogging the life out of you," Hermione retorted._

_ "Ugh, no, I'd never let him. Besides, we're both guys. That would be wrong on so many levels." Ron shuddered at the thought. _

_ "I wonder what crime you committed to make Malfoy kiss you," Harry laughed. _

_ "I gave him the most powerful love potion in the world, I suppose." _

_ "He gave it to you too, but you didn't kiss him!"_

_ "I was going to. And then he gave me the antidote before I could."_

_ "Merlin's beard, I would have hated to be you then," Ron said._

_ "Ach, I have one thing to say about Malfoy—he's a filthy, slimy git," Harry said. "Being kissed by him—you have to have committed some horrible crime."_

_ "Oh, be quiet!"_

**ACTUAL STORY**

A few minutes later, with them still arguing, a scared looking Ravenclaw first year ran up to them and said, "Ummm…I have a message to deliver to Hermione Granger." She held out a rolled up piece of parchment tied with a red ribbon. Hermione said, "That's me," and took it from the first year. The small girl ran away as quickly as she could, and Ron snorted.

"I swear, they're getting smaller every year," he laughed. Hermione united the red silk ribbon and unfurled the scroll.

_Dear Miss Granger,_

_ I would like to see you and Mister Malfoy at eight this evening in my office. There will be Ministry representatives present as well, along with all the staff, so be sure to dress yourself accordingly. You are not in trouble of any kind; this is merely for the International Young and Gifted Wizarding Students Schools Summit. You will receive more information about this in my office. Please do not tell anyone except for Mister Weasley and Mister Potter._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Order of Merlin First Class, etc. etc._

_P.S. Fanged Frisbees are always a laugh._

"What is it?" Harry asked, leaning over to read the letter.

"Dumbledore wants to see me this evening," Hermione answered.

"Cool! About what?" Ron asked.

"The international school conference, or as it's actually called, the International Young and Gifted Wizarding Students Schools Summit."

"Mouthful, isn't it?" Ron smirked.

"Yes, it is. I don't know why they came up with that name."

"Come on, let's get to lunch, I'm hungry!" Harry whined. Hermione laughed.

The rest of the day passed without disturbance, though the fact that Malfoy had kissed Hermione in full view of a class had become common knowledge throughout the sixth and seventh years. Harry and Ron made snide remarks about Draco, and Hermione knew that if she told them that she had kissed Malfoy before, they would not understand at all. As they had dinner, Hermione kept quiet while Harry and Ron argued about Quidditch. She could not keep her mind off of Draco, those eyes of liquid silver, hair of spun moonlight, skin of fresh fallen snow, lips of a pink rose, face of a heavenly angel. She could not help that feel that Draco and Malfoy were two different people, though she knew that they were one. Malfoy had eyes of glittering ice, hair like badly polished straw, skin like a vampire, mouth of a Blast-Ended-Skrewt, and face of a ferret. Her eyes slid over to the Slytherin table and fastened on Draco. He was in the midst of Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini (of whom only Malfoy and Zabini looked even slightly intelligent. Actually, Zabini was third in their year, after Draco and Hermione), talking animatedly to them. She looked over at him. He seemed so…relaxed and beautiful. Zabini wasn't too bad either, she decided. But she kept her focus on Draco, looking at his hair and what she could see of his face. Suddenly, she realized that Ron and Harry were looking at her concernedly.

"What's wrong?" Ron inquired.

"Oh…nothing, nothing," Hermione said quickly.

"Hermione, you were looking over at Malfoy. What's wrong?" Harry said.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking about the Summit, and Malfoy was in the line of my sight," Hermione lied. Harry and Ron nodded understandingly.

"Oh, but of course. That git. Always getting in the way, no matter if he's meaning to or not. Hah! If only I could just…take him out!" Ron yelled, punching the air with his fists. He picked up a baked potato. "This is Malfoy's head…and this is Malfoy's head when I'm finished with him!" and he proceeded to twist the potato, crushing it as it turned to mush with brown skin mixed in. "He is so mean…calling Hermione a Mudblood…calling me a blood traitor…making Harry's life miserable…making all our lives miserable…trying to get Hagrid fired…" Ron continued ranting, while Hermione thought, _But he's not really so bad. He's been very nice to me these past few days. I really think that if they just give him a chance…_

Later that evening, Hermione dressed in freshly pressed black silk robes, and did her hair just a little. Her Head Girl badge gleamed on her chest, and her robes swirled gently around her legs. She was wearing a white sweater vest and black cloth pants, and all in all, she thought she looked quite respectable.

At half past seven, Hermione left the common room and headed to Dumbledore's office, walking briskly down the hallway, staring straight ahead. Suddenly, a pale, long-fingered hand slipped into her own, and squeezed it before letting go. She wheeled around, drawing her wand. Draco stood there, laughing uproariously. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, and stowed her wand back inside her robes.

"Don't do that, Draco Malfoy! You scared me."

"I figured that out on my own. Are you proud of me?" he taunted playfully, a smirk crossing his face. Hermione sighed.

"Let's go to Dumbledore's office, see what all the fuss is about," Hermione said, unable to stay mad at Draco.

As they walked toward Dumbledore's office, they bickered quietly. However, as soon as they reached the stone gargoyle, they fell silent.

"Fanged Frisbees," Draco said clearly to the gargoyle, and it leaped aside, revealing a set of silver, spiral stairs. Slowly, they climbed up, with trepidation slowing their footsteps even more. They entered Dumbledore's office tentatively, seeing a dozen Ministry representatives along with the rest of the staff. They smiled rather nervously, and then Dumbledore said, "Good, good! Our representatives to the International Young and Gifted Wizarding Students Schools Summit are here!" Hermione looked around. She saw a few familiar faces: Percy, who was now the youngest ever Minister of Magic at age twenty one; Mr. Weasley, who still adored Muggles but was now an Unspeakable; Kingsley Shacklebolt, an Auror and Head of the Aurors; Nymphdora Tonks, who was Assistant Head of Aurors; Remus Lupin, a werewolf but now fighting for half-breed rights in the Ministry; Emmeline Vance, who ran the Department of Law enforcement; Sturgis Podmore, another Unspeakable; and Ludo Bagman, who ran the Magical Sports Department. There was also a black haired witch with pretty brown eyes; a tall, gangly wizard with dirty blond hair and olive green eyes; another witch with a pointed blue witch's hat that hid sleek brown curls; and a wizard with white hair that came to his shoulders, and a beard that reached his chest. They looked rather impressive standing together, thought Hermione. Draco kept his head down.

"Now, these are our representatives to the International Young and Gifted Wizarding Students Schools Summit, and they are not only the best in their year, they have actually tried to strengthen inter-house relationships. Now, Minister, I trust that you know these two quite well?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, I do, and I can honestly say that Hermione, at least, is completely trustworthy. Draco, too, I believe, is a good choice for this. I had looked into both their school records and grades; there is nothing to suggest that they are not the best choice," Percy said stoically, but at least his eyes were twinkling. His mop of red Weasley hair, his long lanky form, much like Ron's, and the way he carried himself, with pride and dignity, made him stand out, even against Mr. Weasley.

"Good, good! Now, Minister, would you be so kind as to tell these two everything they may need to know about the Summit?" Dumbledore asked.

"Certainly, Headmaster. Hermione, Draco, come sit down. This will not be a short talk. The rest of you Ministry representatives, you may go to your temporary quarters. Professors, if you would be so kind as to leave us for a little while. You know that the exact details of everything are not supposed to be privy to anyone except the Headmaster, the minister, and the student representatives." With these words, the wizards and witches all bowed respectfully left. Dumbledore, too, stood up from behind his desk, yawning.

"I must say, Minister, that I am extremely tired today. Since I already know all the details, may I be so rude as to retire early?"

"Certainly, Headmaster," Percy said quietly. Dumbledore nodded to them, and then departed.

"Now, the International Young and Gifted Wizarding Students Schools Summit. As you know, this is a prestigious affair, attended by only the best student representatives and the Ministers of Magic. However, each of you may choose three friends to bring, so as to accompany you. They may be from any House, as long as you wish them to attend. The Summit will be on the seventh of March through the seventeenth of March, and you will arrive five days early, and leave three days after the Summit itself concludes; therefore, March the second through March the twentieth. Your robes should be much the same as you are currently wearing—"

"Oh, drop the serious tone, Weasley. We all know you're Minister; it won't make anything worse for you if you make this sound _fun_," Draco snapped. Percy sighed.

"As disdainful as ever, Draco, aren't you. Nevertheless, you could be right. So, down to business…"

Percy spent the next four hours telling them in great detail about past Summits; Draco had heard about them, but Hermione, being Muggle-born, had not. It was all very interesting, and Hermione learned that the Summit was held in a different place every year. They had not been told where they were going; that was a secret until they arrived there. It was tradition, Percy said, that the representatives did not know the location until arrival. They also found out that they were required to learn a Speech Translation Charm, so as to avoid confusion from all the other languages there. There was also much more to that, and two Quick-Quotes Quills scribbled furiously as Percy talked, recording every word he said. As they finished, Percy handed them a large sheaf of parchment apiece, upon which were all the words spoken that evening, along with some other things, recorded by the quills. Percy tapped the stacks of parchment with his wand, and they bound themselves. Then he bowed to them.

"Very well, off to bed now, that's all," he said, shooing them out. "I myself am rather exhausted. Hermione, when you see Ron and Ginny, give them my best." Thus saying, he walked away, leaving them standing outside Dumbledore's office.

"Er…right. I suppose we should go to our common rooms now?" Hermione said.

"Yes, yes, good night, Granger," Draco said, though very kindly, placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, and set off toward the dungeons. Hermione went to the Gryffindor tower, clutching the sheaf of parchment and still feeling Draco's kiss on her cheek. It burned where his mouth touched her skin, though not painfully. It was more of a…warm feeling. She quickened her footsteps toward the tower, and burst into the common room just as the clocks struck one.

Ginny, Ron, and Harry were all there, all of them stressed about the large amount of homework they had been given. Ginny had just become a NEWTs student, and the other two were taking the NEWTs this year. They were poring over textbooks, quills scratching away. Harry noticed Hermione first.

"Hermione! You're back!" Harry said, obviously pleased. "Now you can help us!"

"Is that all you wanted me for? Really? All of you?" Hermione asked, exasperated.

"Well, no. We were waiting for you too, or else we would have gone into our dormitories to finish our homework like everyone else. Waiting for you to return from your…five hour long trip to Dumbledore's office to tell us what he wanted with you," Ron replied, looking up at Hermione.

"Well, I won't get very far with the three of you working like house elves," Hermione chuckled. Harry, Ron and Ginny immediately shut all their books with a snap, looking attentively at Hermione.

"Do you want the long version or the short version? If you want the long version, just read this," Hermione laughed, waving the (very) thick sheaf of parchment at them, covered with Percy's miniscule handwriting (though it had been a Quick Quotes Quill that had written them), half as large as Harry's smallest legible handwriting.

"Well, seeing as the long version would take us hours…I'll go with the short and sweet version," Ginny said. Hermione smiled sweetly.

"That's what I thought. It was about the International Young and Gifted Wizarding Students Schools Summit—yes, it's a ridiculously long name—and no one but the representatives, Headmaster, and Minister knows all the small details and what they're going to do. By the way, Ron, Ginny," Hermione looked at Ron pointedly, "Percy sends his best. Then Percy told us all about the Summit, and five other past Summits, and all the other small rules and charms necessary, and that took us five hours. That's it…I'm not allowed to tell you any more than that."

"Ahh…so short," Ginny said. "In fact, if it gets us more details, I'll be happy to read that monstrous thing." She indicated the stack of paper with everything about the Summit on it.

"Oh no you don't, Ginny. That is strictly confidential. I'm only allowed to discuss it with Malfoy, and that will happen as soon as hell freezes over," Hermione said, winking. "By the way, how would you three like to come with me to the Summit?"

"REALLY?" all three of them cried at once.

"Are you serious, Hermione?"

"Wow, that's a once in a lifetime experience, getting to attend one of those!"

"I can't believe it!"

"You are such a good friend! Thank you!"

The compliments flowed around Hermione like a river, and she smiled at her fortune in having such great friends.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, I'll post the next chapter as soon as possible. Again, thank you so much, MissAmuletAngelPotter


	5. Chapter 5: Ah, the Excitement!

A/N: Thank you again, MissAmuletAngelPotter, for your very kind review on my characters. There's going to be another character in this story named Phoenix that doesn't appear in any of the books…but I hope you like her.

Thank you, Anzlicious, for your kind comment as well. I hope that you enjoy the rest of my story…

Please Review.

Anyone who reads this, please, please mention it to your other friends.

Recap:

"_Oh no you don't, Ginny. That is strictly confidential. I'm only allowed to discuss it with Malfoy, and that will happen as soon as hell freezes over," Hermione said, winking. "By the way, how would you three like to come with me to the Summit?"_

"_REALLY?" all three of them cried at once._

"_Are you serious, Hermione?"_

"_Wow, that's a once in a lifetime experience, getting to attend one of those!"_

"_I can't believe it!"_

"_You are such a good friend! Thank you!" _

_The compliments flowed around Hermione like a river, and she smiled at her fortune in having such great friends. _

**ACTUAL STORY**

The next few months were very peaceful. Hermione went to the Burrow for Christmas. Ron, Harry, and Ginny had all told Mrs. Weasley about the Summit, and Mrs. Weasley had thrown her arms around Hermione, congratulating her and thanking her for her generosity at letting Ron, Ginny, and Harry go with her. Now, back at school, she smiled at the memory. Hermione and Draco had moved the Head Dormitories, as the Head boy and Girl always did after first term. Now that they were spending almost more time with each other than their other friends, Hermione felt slightly guilty. She had also taken to spending every Sunday with Draco in the meadow (which she privately thought of as their spot), though her fellow Gryffindors always assumed she took that day to study (which she partially did), and Draco and she were now neck to neck for first in their year, while Zabini was still third. Draco and she were getting along better and better, though he still took every chance to infuriate her. He said that it was "the Slytherin blood running in me, and besides, it's always fun to tease you, Granger". In spite of this, they were closer than ever, though Ron and Harry were still under the impression that both of them hated each other. They had never been more wrong, Hermione thought. Ginny still liked Zabini, and then she found out that Dean Thomas rather liked Daphne Greengrass (another Slytherin), and Seamus Finnigan liked Astoria Greengrass (again, a Slytherin). Hermione couldn't figure out why all the Gryffindors were suddenly falling in love with the Slytherins. Of course, she herself was no exception…wait…falling in love? That surely wasn't right. No, she wasn't falling in love. Definitely not. She shook her head and pushed away the thought.

It was February twenty eighth, just two days before they were due to leave for the Summit. Harry had been talking to her about nothing else for days, and he kept pestering her, as she wouldn't give any details at all about the Summit. It got on his nerves, and Hermione felt sorry that she couldn't tell him anything…but rules were rules. You didn't just break the rules of one of the most important events in the world—or at least, that was the way it seemed to Hermione, but then again, she was always a stickler for rules. She was packing in her room, trying to figure out what she would bring. A few sets of robes…toothbrush…comb… books, yes, definitely books…a cloak…some Muggle clothes, just in case…money, both Muggle and magical…Somehow, her thoughts slipped to Draco…what he might be packing…She shook her head. There was much to be done and not enough time to do it, especially seeing as she was still seeing Draco tomorrow. She loved the way his eyes sparkled, especially in moonlight, how his hair reflected off any light given to it, giving the impression that it was glowing. She loved the way he smiled, gently and sweetly, loved the pale white softness of his skin, cool but with the beat of life…Hermione shook her head. _Concentrate,_ she told herself. _Concentrate. Forget Draco right now._ She drove Draco out of her thoughts as much as possible, and then resumed her packing.

The two days before the International Young and Gifted Wizarding Students Schools Summit passed in blur. Hermione stayed up half the night those two days, talking to Draco, practicing spells, and helping her friends pack. She was now practicing spells well outside the regular Hogwarts curriculum, and the only person who could even hope to do what she could do was Draco. In fact, he could do it just as well. After she taught him to cast a Patronus (as he had never been taught this before, and unsurprisingly, his Patronus was a dragon), there was nothing that she could do that he couldn't. He really was an immensely talented wizard. And as her liking for him grew, so did his liking for her. They still weren't admitting, even to themselves, that they were a couple yet; they said that they weren't. Admittedly, they had kissed time and time again, but Hermione denied to herself that Draco was…was her …boyfriend, but she did admit there was a little more going on than just normal friendship.

March the second dawned bright and clear. Hermione was awake at dawn, anticipating what lay ahead. At five minutes to noon, they were to take a Portkey to wherever the Summit was. She dressed as quickly as possible, then headed down to the common room that she and Draco shared. She found that Draco was already up, sitting in their common room writing something…but it looked more like he was drawing. If he was, it wouldn't be the first time. She had always wanted to see one of his drawings, but he had never let her. She came over to see what he was sketching, but he put the parchment away before she could see much. She only caught a glimpse of a crescent moon, but that one glimpse had been so quick she had no idea how good he was.

"I heard you coming. You're not very quiet," Draco said. "I usually don't allow anyone to see my drawings. You might see it-after I'm done, maybe, but not before. And again, _maybe_ you will see it. Maybe I won't let you." He smirked in that enormously annoying way of his, but there was laughter in his eyes. Hermione harrumphed.

"Well, we are exempt from all classes today. Why don't you hang out with your Slytherin friends and I spend time with with my Gryffindor ones, since they're all going to the Summit as well?"

"Certainly. I see nothing wrong with that view, though I might spend the time drawing instead. Why don't you go down to the Great Hall for breakfast, while I stay up here for a little and work a little more on my drawing." It was not really a question, more of a statement. Hermione shrugged, picked up a Muggle book she had been reading (_Gone with the Wind_), and left the common room.

The Great Hall, as always, was filled with a vast, chattering crowd. Hermione headed toward her usual seat with Ginny, Harry, and Ron, who were all talking excitedly under their breath. When they looked up and saw her, they beckoned for her to join them, and Hermione did so quite gladly. Harry leaned over to her.

"How awesome do you think the World Summit is going to be?" Harry asked. Hermione shook her head. Harry and Ron had taken to calling the Summit the "World Summit" and nothing she said stopped them.

"I think it will be very nice. We'll get to build international relationships!"

"Yeah, like you haven't already got one with Vicky," Ron growled viciously, shoveling down huge mouthfuls of pudding.

"Ron!" Hermione cried and slapped him. He winced.

"What was that for? I only said that you built an international relationship with Vicky!" Ron whined.

"He is my _pen pal_. Not a boyfriend or anything!"

"He was!"

"Yes, three years ago! That's such a short stretch of time, don't you think? And just because I'm still in contact with him does _not_ mean that I like him that way." But Hermione was laughing when she said this. Ron snorted and went back to his pudding. Harry grinned.

"How's living with Malfoy coming along?" Harry asked, while Ron choked on a particularly huge bite of toast. "Any antagonizing issues?"

"What do you think?" Hermione shot back.

"Hmmm…I would say lots of issues. How you even stand seeing him for _hours_ a day, I don't know. And _living _with him? That's a whole new level of torture."

"Well, as long as he lets me be, which he usually doesn't, it's fine."

"So, living with him is _not_ fine. It's horrible," Harry concluded. Hermione thought, _Did I ever say that? No. When he doesn't let me be, it's not fine; it's really great, though he does tend to be annoying at times._

Hermione spent the rest of the morning with Harry, Ron, and Ginny in the common room while everyone else went to classes. They had already finished learning all the things that their classes would cover when they weren't at Hogwarts (which varied accordingly, and meant that Hermione and Draco, who were taking the most classes, had felt very, very strained in the past month), so they were free to do whatever they wanted. They decided on a walk through the Hogwarts flower garden, and Hermione was reminded forcibly of the first time she had kissed Draco, months ago on the fourth of October. But Harry interrupted her thoughts, and it was a very good thing, too, since her thoughts were veering more and more off track.

"Hey, Hermione, at the Summit, where d'you reckon it'll be?"Harry said.

"I don't know, I'm not privy to that information, as Percy puts it. And it could be anywhere in the world. And I do literally mean anywhere. It could be in a forest, an ice mountain, tundra, on the prairie, in a city—anywhere, though it's probably somewhere slightly secluded."

"Ugh," Ron said, shivering. "Imagine if it were in Antarctica or something. We'd all be freezing to death. Except maybe Malfoy—he's already so cold, I doubt _anywhere_ could be colder than him." Harry laughed at this, while Hermione grimaced to herself. If only they were just a little nicer to Draco! She still hadn't told them anything yet, and she didn't know how much longer she could keep it up. But still…how would they react? She decided to withhold that particular piece of information for as long as she could.

Noon came, and Hermione was wildly excited. She and the other Gryffindors pulled their luggage to Dumbledore's office, where the Slytherins (Draco, Zabini, Daphne, and Astoria) and Phoenix with her phoenix Icefire were already waiting. Wait…Phoenix? What was she doing here? And she had a suitcase too, like she was leaving with them… Hermione was about to ask Phoenix what she was doing, but Harry beat her to it.

"Why are you—"

"—here? I am going to the Summit with you as a Student Healer. Not that I'm pursuing that career after Hogwarts, but I _am_ rather good at healing; I can do it better than most of the people at St. Mungo's, and they wanted a Student Healer, if possible."

"Ahhh…" Harry said, more confused than ever about the odd customs of the Summit. "I was not aware of that…"

"I know you weren't. Even the representatives weren't told, because it was a last minute thing. I only found out yesterday night. Hmph!" Harry just blinked back at her.

"Come on, people, it's two minutes until the Portkey is due to leave, put your fingers on it." Blaise Zabini gestured to a dilapidated small children's chair, and they all touched the chair. Harry looked rather nervous and was gripping the chair tightly with both hands, making sure that Hedwig's cage and his trunk were touching him, though. Ron just touched it with one finger, and Ginny moved purposefully beside Zabini. Zabini began a countdown with ten seconds left to spare.

"Ten … nine … eight … seven … six … five … four… three … two … ONE!" Zabini yelled, and Hermione felt like there was a hook behind her navel that was suddenly being pulled. Then the spinning began, around and around and around and around. A split second later, they landed. And what they saw left them temporarily speechless (except Malfoy). Crookshanks purred and wound around Hermione's legs, while the owls fluttered madly (there were six of them). Icefire swirled gently above their heads, showing her opinion of where they were. There was no doubt about it; this was one of the most extreme places they had ever been to.

Sorry it was so short, but I didn't want to give too much away too soon. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, I'll post the next chapter as soon as possible. Again, thank you, MissAmuletAngelPotter, for your uplifting comments. And I have a special request of you—if possible, could you be my beta reader?


	6. Chapter 6: Wuah and Other Games

A/N: Thanks, Anzlicious, for your kind comment. I hope that the rest of the story is satisfactory as well.

Also, I have no idea what this place I'm describing is; I just made it up. I may make up a name for it later. Also, later in this chapter, about Wuah!...it really is a real game, and it _did_ happen at a Science Olympiad National Tournament. That's actually true. I know, I have a young(er) friend who went, and he played the game (it was last year, 2010). I would've gone, except I am a little too old for Division B, and our Division C team sucks big time. We've given up all hope of getting to Nationals with our Division C team. Our Division B team, however, is slightly more successful (and by slightly, I mean they've gone to a dozen National tournaments in the past). Anyways, that's where this game came from. Actually, all non-wizarding games described in this story are real, and I have seen them with my own eyes.

Please Review.

Anyone who reads this, please, please mention it to your other friends.

Recap:

"_Ten … nine … eight … seven … six … five … four… three … two … ONE!" Zabini yelled, and Hermione felt like there was a hook behind her navel that was suddenly being pulled. Then the spinning began, around and around and around and around. A split second later, they landed. And what they saw left them temporarily speechless (except Malfoy). Crookshanks purred and wound around Hermione's legs, while the owls fluttered madly (there were six of them). Phoenix's phoenix swirled gently above their heads, showing her opinion of where they were. There was no doubt about it; this was one of the most extreme places they had ever been to._

**ACTUAL STORY**

They were standing on a cliff, lush green grass all around them, tropical plants everywhere. Just behind them, a building that seemed to be made of blue diamonds glittered and sparkled. It was in the shape of a dome, and its faceted surface reflected off the sun. It was almost too beautiful. Off to the side of the dome, a cream colored building stood, huge (Hermione counted that it was twenty stories tall), but much more welcoming than the glittering cold diamond dome. It looked like it was an apartment building. Hermione assumed that was where the people were to live. Smiling, she grasped Draco's hand briefly and let go. Icefire flew away over the waves. Phoenix didn't seem to be worried, so Hemrione thought it must be fine. A lanky, friendly looking wizard that looked about sixteen with ginger hair and purple robes walked over to them.

"Welcome to the 758th International Young and Gifted Wizarding Students Schools Summit. My name is Peter Andrews, though most people call me Robert as it's my middle name, and I am to be your guide—or at least, the guide for the people from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That is you, isn't it?" He looked apprehensively over them. Hermione noticed that he spoke with a very distinct American accent.

"Yes, we are from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Draco Malfoy, a representative, this is Hermione Granger, the other representative, Blaise Zabini, Astoria Greengrass, Daphne Greengrass, Ronald, or Ron Weasley, Ginevra, or Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter, and Phoenix." The wizard's—Robert's—eyes flew open wide.

"Did you just say that Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, _and_ Harry Potter are all standing…here?" Robert whispered.

"Yes, I did, why are we standing here doing nothing?" Draco snapped.

"Well, then! Temper, temper." Shaking his head, Robert beckoned for them to follow. He headed toward the dome, and they followed, pulling their baggage along.

Robert led them into the building, where more sparkling blue greeted their eyes. Other delegations had already arrived, she realized, looking at all the luggage in the entrance hall. Robert turned to them.

"You may wander around for now; come down here at six this evening. If you need anything, just call my name—"

"Yo, Ropaire! Come over here for a sec! Dude, this is freaking BEAST! It is SICK." A sandy haired wizard wearing the same purple robes was yelling across the room to Robert. Robert sighed.

"Crap. I need to see what Pierre, or Perry, as I like to call him, needs. Or wants to show me."

"Er…not to be rude or anything, but he said "Ropaire" not "Robert". It's similar, yes, but I don't think that's your name. Of course, if it was "Robby", I'd understand," Harry said.

"Perry insists on calling me Ropaire, like I insist on calling him Perry. It's funny, actually, Perry the Platypus…well, again, if you need me, just call my name."

"HEY! Ropaire! You comin' or not?" Pierre's voice sounded throughout the hall. Robert shook his head and walked over to his friend, who immediately began talking. Zabini put a hand up.

"I have a few questions. One, what does "freaking beast" mean? I would say it's an animal, but it doesn't seem that way. Two, dude? What's a "dude"? Three, Ropaire. Why Ropaire? It makes no sense. Four, what the heck is Perry the Platypus? Five, what does crap have to do with anything? Six, what's sick, and why was that wizard—Pierre—Perry—so excited about it?" Phoenix seemed to find all this very funny, and was stifling laughs. Zabini whirled on her.

"Well, then, Phoenix, since you are laughing so much, I guess you know the answer. So answer me!"

"I would like to know too," Ginny said.

"And me."

"Me too." All of them clamored for Phoenix to tell them what the things meant—except, of course, Draco.

"Well, "freaking" can be both good and bad. Like, "I don't freaking care" is bad. But "You're a freaking genius" is good. It just depends on the context. "Beast" means, and I quote, "totally awesome". So, "freaking beast" means something is about as cool as possible. And "cool" means suave, awesome."

"Wow. And I thought that "freaking beast" meant one of Hagrid's monsters are running amok," Zabini laughed. "Now what about the rest of it?"

"A "dude" is what a guy calls another guy, in an affectionate or not very affectionate manner. But it's common in America. "Ropaire" is just a friendly nickname that sounds cool, in their opinion. Perry the Platypus…well, it's a character on an American Muggle show called Phineas and Ferb—"

"Wait. Phineas? As in Phineas Nigellus?" Harry asked.

"Well, the names are the same, but nothing else. Phineas is a genius engineer—do _not_ ask what that is. Perry is a platypus who's part of a secret agent society who fights against Doofenschmirtz, a, evil scientist who is very…not evil, though he says he is. Doofenschmirtz builds "—inators" and tries to conquer the tri-state area. _Don't _ask. That's what Perry the Platypus is. He's an animal secret agent. "Crap" is a mild swear word that everyone in America says, at least once a day, so often that some people don't even consider it a swear word anymore. Sick is just another word for awesome."

"These Americans are _crazy_," Zabini muttered.

"You haven't seen anything yet, Blaise. Remember, I lived in the US until I was ten. I saw a lot of stuff. And their schools…don't operate in the same way, to say the very least," Phoenix said. They walked into a large room walled with light purple, where a group of about thirty witches and wizards stood in a circle. They looked over at the newcomers.

"Oh, hey! You wanna join?" a black haired witch called. _American,_ Hermione thought.

"Er…what are you doing, exactly?" Harry asked.

"Playing Wuah!"

"_What?_"Harry said, utterly confused.

"Never mind, just watch first round." She turned back to the group, faced the center, and everyone put their hands together in front of their chests.

"Ninjas of the world, unite!" the raven-haired girl cried. Everyone halfway squatted at the word "unite" and stood up again, crying "Wuah!" together. The girl raised her pressed palms, cried, "Wuah!" and pointed at a wizard on the other side of the circle, who put his hands up in the air, palms pressed together, and cried "Wuah!" The two people on either side of him swung their pressed palms toward his stomach, stopping an inch away from it, and cried "Wuah!" while swinging their hands toward the wizard. Then the wizard pointed (with his palms) at another wizard, and the routine began again. And all that had happened within three seconds. A few moments later, a wizard got out, and the black-haired witch started another round. Apparently, they started a new round as soon as someone got out. Phoenix was laughing silently again. Zabini whirled on her.

"What in the world is so funny?"

"Oh, it's just…the last time I saw this was at a Science Olympiad National Tournament, and there were people from sixth through twelfth grade—those are grade levels- playing this game, and they were all calling each other by alternate names, and then Wuah! was undertaken by pretty much all the competitors, and then…" Phoenix stopped talking, gasping with laughter. Ron turned toward her.

"Did I hear right? A _national_ tournament about _science_ undertaken by _Muggles_? And they played this game? God, I have no idea what's going through the minds of these Americans," Draco muttered. There were four people out now, and they seemed to be playing a game of their own. Hermione had no idea what they were doing—it was like they couldn't move unless the other person attacked them, like they were taking turns. Phoenix started to explain again.

"This game is called Ninja. You say, "One, two three, NINJA!" and start playing. You see, you take turns. You are allowed one move each turn, and you must freeze in position after your move. You may only move otherwise if your opponent is "attacking" you, so as to avoid getting hit. If you do get hit on your forearm, you're out. It's quite, fun, actually," Phoenix said. "I just didn't expect wizards to play games like this. But then again, this _is_ America."

"You've got that right," Astoria muttered. "This is insane."

"Why don't we give this game a try?" Hermione said. "After all, it could be fun."

"It is. Remember, I went to that tournament a few years ago. It was immense fun."

"Let's wait till they're done with this round," Harry said. He looked slightly apprehensive. The next person got out just at that moment, and Phoenix said, "Hey, can we join now?" The black haired witch nodded, so the all the Hogwarts students except for Phoenix stepped into the circle as eight extra players.

Ron got out almost immediately, and stepped out of the circle grumpily and began playing Ninja with a wizard who had dyed his hair purple, and lost within ten seconds. Harry lasted two more rounds before getting out. Hermione smiled. Things were getting harder now…the game was getting faster, and it was a lot easier to get out…on every beat, you had to be on time, or you were out…it took all of Hermione's concentration just to keep on playing and know when someone was pointing at her, Draco, or Blaise, who were on either side of her. One by one, the others got out, the Americans as well as the British. Finally, only Hermione, Draco, and the black-haired witch were left.

"This is the last, fastest, hardest round. One of us will lose. Who will it be? More than likely, one of you," The black-haired witch said.

"Care to bet?" Ron whispered behind the witch. She jumped a little, but recovered.

"You're on. Two Sickles."

"Deal," Ron agreed readily, though slightly nervously. The witch nodded, satisfied. She turned to face Hermione and Draco, and yelled, "Ninjas of the world, unite!"

It was the fastest and longest round, even longer than the first round, which had lasted three minutes. The "wuah"s were passed with the speed of a Firebolt, at an increasingly fast tempo. It was the witch, then Hermione, then the witch, then Draco, then Hermione, then Draco, then the witch, then Draco, then Hermione, then the witch, and so on and so forth. Finally, six minutes and twenty three seconds later, the witch missed a beat, and Draco and Hermione emerged victorious. Ron was jubilant.

"YES!" he cried. "YES! Two Galleons to me! I haven't had that much money since…well, never, but YES!" The black-haired witch handed him two Galleons rather sourly, while Hermione felt a pang of sympathy for him. Everyone else had stopped whatever they were doing to watch the celebrating Ron. Ginny, Astoria, and Daphne looked up from their conversation, Zabini stopped playing Ninja for a moment (of which he had won every game he had played), and Harry and Phoenix just continued watching, like they had been the entire time.

"All, right, you two, play a game of Ninja to see who will call next round," the black haired witch said, pointing to Hermione and Draco. "Pretty blond boy, you start. Start on my count. Ready? One…two…three…NINJA!" she cried.

Immediately, Draco swiped at Hermione, but Hermione dodged. Hermione tried to hit his forearm, but he stepped back. The game continued for another fifteen seconds, when Draco hit Hermione's forearm when she wasn't expecting it. The room cheered. The black-haired witch said, "Right, pretty blond boy, you get to call next round. And _don't_ make any silly mistakes." Draco harrumphed while the witch called the start of the next game of Wuah! Everyone gathered around again, and this time, Phoenix joined.

"Ninjas of the world, unite!" Draco called. The group simultaneously halfway bent their knees and straightened, hands in prayer position and cried "WUAH!" and the game began. Phoenix was surprisingly good, never missing any beats, always on track, no near misses. But then again, Hermione reasoned, Phoenix _had_ played this before. The black-haired witch, so confident before, lost her nerve and got out before Ron did, which was saying a lot, as Ron got out second round. Phoenix was easily one of the best, getting out four wizards and two witches in a row. Hermione too, lost in the second to last round, leaving Ginny, Draco, and Phoenix for the top. The next round commenced, even faster and more furious than the last game's last round. Finally, Ginny fell out of beat and lost. Draco and Phoenix squared off against each other, and this game lasted ten minutes, when Phoenix finally landed a blow on Draco's arm.

The games continued, all the people laughing and joking. The games were not limited to Wuah!; there was much more in addition. There was a flinching game, hand games, a lot of horseplay, and much else as well. Of course, there were also a few wizarding games, like wizard chess, Gobstones, and Exploding Snap, along with others. As the day progressed, more witches and wizards from other countries entered the room (which expanded as needed, since it was magical), so that there were over a hundred witches and wizards in the room. The Speech-Translation Charm came into play, as all of the witches and wizards put it on. The room was filled with a nonstop babble of talk and laughter. At one point or another, Robert or Ropaire and his friend Pierre or Perry or whatever their names were came in, joining in all the festivities. There was no tension, or anything to suggest that anyone wasn't having fun. They were all roaring with laughter and teasing madly, even Hermione, who was usually so uptight about things like this. Suddenly, six chimes sounded.

"Hey, yo peeps! Dinner time!" Pierre/Perry yelled. "I'm Pierre, by the way. You may only call me Pierre. Nobody is allowed to call me anything else except for Ropaire here," Pierre said, clapping Robert on the back. Zabini raised his eyebrows. _Peeps?_ he was clearly thinking. He turned to Phoenix.

"It's short for "people". Often used in slang or affectionately," Phoenix whispered. By now, Pierre, was leading everyone out of the purple room.

"Hey, what's your name?" Ron asked the black-haired witch, who, by chance, was standing beside him.

"Mellyssa. Mellyssa Havens," the girl replied, not even bothering to look at Ron. Ron's eyes followed her hungrily. Hermione laughed, as she was in an unnaturally good mood. The Hogwarts students filed out after the American delegation.

Pierre led the group into a magnificent dining hall, with a long table made of crystal in it, which would easily seat five hundred. At the head of the table was a figure wearing gold and purple robes, looking imposing but friendly. The witches and wizards all sat down, and Hermione saw that there were, indeed, about five hundred wizards and witches. Once they were all seated, the wizard at the head stood up and opened his arms.

Very sorry I ended on such a cliffhanger. I'm having trouble writing the speech that the head wizard is supposed to say. I have it to "Welcome, witches and wizards, to the 758th International Young and Gifted Wizarding Students Schools Summit!" Past that, I have no idea what to say. Anyone, help?


	7. Chapter 7: Unseen Talents

A/N: There will be quite a bit of music terminology in this chapter, so if you don't understand, don't worry. Just assume all you can from the context.

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

"_Mellyssa. Mellyssa Havens," the girl replied, not even bothering to look at Ron. Ron's eyes followed her hungrily. Hermione laughed, as she was in an unnaturally good mood. The Hogwarts students filed out after the American delegation. _

_Pierre led the group into a magnificent dining hall, with a long table made of crystal in it, which would easily seat five hundred. At the head of the table was a figure wearing gold and purple robes, looking imposing but friendly. The witches and wizards all sat down, and Hermione saw that there were, indeed, about five hundred wizards and witches. Once they were all seated, the wizard at the head stood up and opened his arms._

**ACTUAL STORY**

"Welcome, young witches and wizards, to the 758th International Young and Gifted Wizarding Students Schools Summit. I am Dr. Matthews, your host for the next two weeks and four days. There are sixty schools here in attendance, one student Healer-" Dr. Matthews nodded at Phoenix, who smiled, "—eighteen support staff, and me." The support staff sat around Dr. Matthews, and they all wore purple robes. Pierre and Robert were part of this staff, Hermione noticed.

"You representatives, you have been chosen to come here because you are—there is no other word for it—exemplary, and you excel at your studies, are a good citizen—" Ron sniggered at this, looking at Malfoy, "—and you have many leadership qualities. The point of this Summit is to improve international relationships and make your voice heard throughout the worldwide Wizarding community. You are here to bring changes into the world, literally change laws, remove laws, add laws, and to enjoy yourself. The official meetings will begin in five days. Make the most of the five free days you have, enjoy our island, and our staff will guide you! Now, I don't want to tire you out with talk and speech, so let the feast…BEGIN!" Dr. Matthews cried, waving his left hand, his right hand lifted above his head with his wand in it. Food immediately appeared in front of them, like at Hogwarts. The food was delectable, and it was from dozens of different countries. Ron crammed as much food in his mouth as possible—and then Gabrielle Delacour walked up. Ron choked on his huge mouthful of food, and attempted to say, "Hi, Gabrielle, how are you? I'm fine, but your sister is marrying my brother" but all that came out was "Himph gabriesh mmf hore ooem fibet ushris stressim hhmmmfffr rynmbr thirr hmmmph". Hermione looked revolted, and Draco laughed. Gabrielle turned away from Ron and faced Harry.

"'Ello, 'Arry Potter. Moi seester sayz she is going to marry your friend's brozzer, true? Eef eet eez, tell 'er zat I would very much like to be a bridezmaid. 'Ello, 'ermione, and Ginny. Zat is your name, no? I will speak later; my school'z representative wishes to talk to me now." Gabrielle glided away, Ron, swallowing heavily. Harry laughed at Ron until his sides hurt. Draco flashed a brief smile at Hermione, then continued poking at his mashed potatoes. Hermione smiled at her friends' silliness. Ginny seemed rather interested in talking with Zabini, while the Greengrass sisters chattered.

After the meal, Dr. Matthews stood up again and clapped his hands once, and the remnants of the food vanished. Then he began speaking.

"I trust that you have had a nice meal. Now, your guides from today will show you your quarters. Please, do not hesitate to ask your guide anything. I hope you have a nice stay, and we will now be dismissed!" Dr. Matthews sat down, and all the students stood up. Robert yelled, "Hey! My group! Come here! C'mon, c'mon, I don't want to be here all night." Pierre laughed, then gathered his own group. The Hogwarts students walked over to Robert, where delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were coming as well. Hermione recognized their uniforms. They all looked rather surprised that there were other groups assigned to Robert. Robert himself chuckled.

"What, you thought you were the only group I guided? No, we all have multiple groups, or else we'd have to have sixty support staff. There are only eighteen of us. Some get three delegations, some get four. I've got the three European schools…Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. All here? All right, follow me." Robert turned around and walked briskly toward the door, his purple robes swishing. As he walked, he talked nonstop to them.

"Your luggage is already in your rooms, as are your pets. You're all on the seventh floor, out of the twenty total floors. Floor one is the lobby, and floor twenty is for stargazing and watching the entire island. The rest are living quarters. Each school has a designated suite. It's actually more like a small house, with different bedrooms, bathrooms, and closets for all of you, but you still have to share living space. And tomorrow, I'll take whoever wants to go sightseeing. We'll go with Per—Pierre's group…" And he continued babbling.

When they reached the other building's lobby, Robert turned to face them.

"All right, peeps, there are nineteen elevators here, one for each group and an extra one for visitors, cleaning, maintenance, guests and so forth. You're elevator seven, and to get on the elevator, you must have the correct fingerprints. It's done so the elevator will only let you twenty five and me get on—unless you want to bring guests. But don't bother trying to get inside another one. Dumbledore personally charmed these elevators. Right…up we go…" Robert walked over to elevator seven, pressed his finger against a yellow pad, and the elevator opened while he ushered them all in.

"To operate this elevator, you simply say the floor you would like to go to, and it will take you there. So… floor seven," he said to the elevator. The elevator lifted them all up, and dinged open when it reached the seventh floor. And what a magnificent floor it was! The walls were light blue with moving streaks of gold and silver, the floor beneath them clear as diamond, showing magnificent paintings beneath of wild unicorns, beautiful women, handsome men, graceful trees, blue sky, clear water, and all manner of stunning things. They were all moving with a natural, flowing grace. It took Hermione's breath away. Robert showed the Beauxbatons lot their "suite", and then the Durmstrang party's. When both those companies had left, Hermione suddenly remembered something.

"Robert, what did Pierre want you to see that was so urgent?" she asked.

"Oh, that? Perry wanted to show me a phoenix. It flying to us from toward the sea, and it was a very fine specimen. And phoenixes are so rare…and to see one _flying over the sea_…very rare sight. It might not even have been heard of." Phoenix laughed when Robert said this. He whirled on her.

"What's so funny?" he demanded.

"That was _my_ phoenix you saw. Her name is Icefire, she was exploring the surroundings. She rather likes water too, but her favorite environment is the intertwinement of fire and water together."

"Oh…well, it _was_ beast. Perry was right about that."

"Right…let's go into our suite now, can we?" Phoenix said. Robert nodded, and muttered a password. An ornate door with the word "Hogwarts" written on it in gilded gold appeared, and he pushed it open. Hermione sucked in her breath.

Their suite was absolutely beautiful. There was a large kitchen, an ornate sitting room, a study room, and even a balcony. And around the edges, there were nine bedrooms. Their names were on the door, and each bedroom reflected who each individual was. For example, Harry's bedroom was papered with red and gold, with pictures of his friends on the walls, and Quidditch posters around it. There was a painting on the wall of a Snitch hovering above a Hungarian Horntail and a stag. In Ron's room, the wallpaper was also red and gold, but there were posters of the Chudley Cannons on the walls, a picture of Hermione, Harry, and his family, and a painting of a Jack Russell terrier and—what else—food. Draco's bedroom was green and silver, a long silver Chinese dragon snaking around the top of the room. The way the paint had been applied gave the impression of green water, and there was an elaborate, glittering chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The painting on his wall was of the Forbidden Forest meadow, and two figures (too far away to be seen clearly) were sitting under a tree together, while on the outskirts, a silver dragon lurked. The room gave the impression of intimidation, strength, and slight danger, but was could also be friendly. _Just like Draco,_ Hermione thought. Ginny's room was red and gold, but the wallpaper was soft and fuzzy. The painting on her wall was of a Pygmy Puff with a bunny in a meadow. Soft carpet covered her floor. Phoenix's room was scarlet and gold on one wall, green and silver on another, black and yellow on another, and blue and gold on another, the colors of all four houses. A hanging lamp in the shape of a phoenix hung from the ceiling, seeming almost like it was alive. The painting on the wall was of a Chinese dragon and phoenix intertwined underwater, with other magical creatures (mermaids, kelpies, unicorns, and such) in the background. Zabini's room was green and silver, with the impression of slyness everywhere. A full size mirror hung on one wall, and the painting in his room was of a snake slithering up a tree. Astoria's and Daphne's rooms were identical; green and silver walls, beautiful carvings of animals on the edge of the ceiling, and a painting of a hawk and an eagle. Hermione's room was scarlet and gold, with pictures of her friends on the walls. The painting in her room was of an otter swimming with a mermaid. All the rooms had a bed that reflected the room's colors, a carved desk with varying designs, a bedside table, and a huge window. Hermione loved the suite at once.

"Pretty place, isn't it? Durmstrang's suite is very…_masculine_, which, personally, I think is not fair to the girls. The Beauxbatons' suite is very frilly, which isn't fair to the guys. But this one…it's an intermediary, and I like it best out of the three. It is the BOMB. But don't tell anyone I said that," Robert said. "The password to this place is "snakes of lions, lions of snakes". Right, well, enjoy your stay. The paintings in the rooms are yours to take when you leave since they were painted just for you. Good night." Robert walked out of suite, closing the door with a snap.

"I love this place," Ron said. "It's awesome, or beast, as Americans like to say—"

"Speaking of American sayings, what does "it is the bomb" mean?" Zabini asked.

"The greatest, best, coolest…you get the idea," Phoenix answered. They went from one room to another, until they reached a room with a lifted platform and a grand piano on it.

"Oh, look! They've got a piano!" Draco exclaimed. "Now I won't fall behind on piano."

"You do piano?" Ginny said skeptically.

"No, I just said that so you would be jealous," Draco said sarcastically. "_Yes,_ Iplay piano. I've been playing since I was six."

"Why haven't I ever heard you practice?" Hermione asked?"

"Because I use silencing charms on my bedroom! I don't like people crowding on me when I try to play."

"I've never heard you play, either," Daphne said. Draco turned to her.

"Yes, you have. Remember how you said you kept thinking you heard a piano playing in the background almost every night? That was _me_, Daphne. Father arranged for me to have a piano room at Hogwarts where I could practice." Daphne's mouth hung open.

"And all those times that you told me that I was insane! You are going to _pay_ for this."

"I play violin," Phoenix said softly. Zabini whirled on her.

"Oh, great, another musician. Well, let's see just how well you can play. You too, Drake. You get to play piano for us too, but not for me. I've heard you play enough times that I know you're pretty good."

"Certainly," Phoenix said. She went over to her trunk and pulled out a violin case (her trunk had been magically expanded). She opened it, and a beautiful violin that glimmered in the light came into view. She pulled it out and fastened a shoulder rest onto it, and laid it on a table. Then she pulled out a long bow, and tightened it. Then she got out a circular mound of rosin, and applied it to the bow. Draco just sat down at the piano.

"Warm up first," Draco said.

"No, tuning. _Then_ warm-up. But of course, you don't need to tune," Phoenix corrected. She muttered a spell, and to Hermione, nothing seemed to change. But obviously, something did, because Phoenix looked down on her violin with approval. Then, simultaneously, they began playing various scales and arpeggios, two octave and three octave. Then, five minutes later, they stopped abruptly.

"Let's see, what shall we play?" Phoenix asked Draco.

"How about number forty op. seven?" Draco said.

"Oh! I love that one. All right. So, I count." Phoenix turned back to her violin, while Draco poised his hands above the keyboard. Then, Phoenix apparently gave some signal, because they began playing tpgether. Phoenix stopped after two measures, and rested for another eight. A liquid sound filled the air from the piano, and a second later, Phoenix joined in. Hermione listened in amazement. Phoenix played superbly, easily and beautifully. It was like a waterfall of music, angels singing, birds warbling…she hit high notes, low notes, all with exquisite accuracy. There were shifts and artificial harmonics, difficult beats, long stretches of left hand pizzicato, double stops, triple stops, difficult rhythms, and much more. It was all played with a graceful and easy air though. Draco was magnificent too. His long fingers skimmed across the keyboard with a practiced ease, hitting all the sharps and flats, getting all the rhythms right, and put together, the two of them played a musical masterpiece that was both incredible and hauntingly ethereal. And twenty minutes later, they finished with a grand finale of the most technical and difficult musical techniques Hermione had ever seen. The other seven stood in silence for a moment, mouths hanging open, and then broke into applause that seemed to be much too loud for just seven people.

"Oh. My. GOD! That was so good!" squealed Ginny. Zabini looked taken aback.

"God, man, what was that? That was freaking AWESOME."

"Beast," said Ron.

"The bomb," said Harry.

"It was SICK," said Zabini.

"Picked up on American language much?" said Astoria.

"Yeah, yeah, but Drake, seriously, what was that?" Zabini asked.

"It was a little self composition that Phoenix and I wrote, along with some other pieces. She's really good, too. This wasn't the most difficult piece, but it's pretty."

"Did you just say it's not difficult? God, Draco, if that's not difficult, I wonder what is," Daphne said.

"This. Phoenix, one oh six, all right?" Phoenix nodded. Suddenly, they began playing absolutely the most difficult piece that Hermione had ever heard. Tempo changes, from prestissimo to largo, from that to andante, to allegro to larghetto, to presto and everything else. There were the most difficult techniques in both piano and violin that Hermione had ever seen, from left hand pizzicato to playing with the back of the bow, to shifting from first position on the G string to tenth position on the E string during a thirty-second note, to plucking the actual piano strings in rapid fire to using the never used sostenuto pedal, to playing the lowest two octaves on the piano at top speed to playing the three topmost octaves in the space of a sixteenth note going at quarter note one ninety six. The dynamics were sometimes sudden, sometimes gradual, but it added to the music as a whole. By the end, Hermione was so stunned by the superb playing of both Phoenix and Draco that she couldn not even actually gauge her reaction. Everyone's mouths once again hung open as they clapped. Then they exploded into cheers.

"My GOD! I wish I could play like that!" Zabini exclaimed. "Drake, you remember yesterday when I played Phantom of the Opera for you? And I thought _I _was good. I've got nothing on you in terms of music now."

"I know," Draco said. "Only Phoenix has any chance of beating me in musical competition."

"Blaise, you play piano too?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"Yes, it's a pureblood tradition to make your children learn how to play an instrument or sing. Sadly, not many pureblood or half blood wizards or witches have good voices. Drake is an exception to that. Daphne plays clarinet, and Astoria plays flute. I don't know about the Weasleys…" Zabini said.

"I play trumpet," Ron said. "And Ginny can play viola. Fred and George do percussion, mostly, and Percy plays cello. Bill plays trombone, and Charlie plays the tuba. Mum can play clarinet, and Dad plays bassoon."

"How come I never knew this?" Harry exclaimed. "I've stayed with you at the Burrow, and I've never, ever heard you practice."

"Well, you weren't with me every second. That's when I practiced. I had to, or Mum would've killed me."

"I can sing," Hermione said. "I've been taking singing lessons since I was seven."

"Am I the only person in this room with no musical talent to speak of?" Harry cried.

"Yes. Yes you are, Potter, so get over it," Draco said.

"Did everyone bring their instruments?" Phoenix asked. There was a murmur of "yes" throughout the room. "Well, get them out. We're having a little music recital to show everyone. Draco and I showed you; now it's your turn." There was a little bit of muttering, but everyone did as they were told. Zabini strode over to the piano and literally shoved Draco off the piano bench. Draco managed to avoid falling completely over by grabbing a piano leg, and after he recovered, he turned to look at Zabini, who was roaring with laughter. Hermione chuckled, and everyone else simply _laughed_. Zabini cleared his throat.

"Ahem, I am about to start playing. So everyone SHUT UP!" he roared. The he sat down again, perfectly demure, and began playing Phantom of the Opera and Prima Donna. Hermione thought that he was very good, but not nearly on the same level as Draco. A few minutes later, he finished and bowed to the audience, who clapped appreciatively.

"Who's next?" Draco asked. Astoria and Daphne offered to go up and play a duet. They played well too, but not as well as Zabini. They made a few mistakes, but nothing too serious. However, they were flustered when they were finished. Ron volunteered to go next. This time, they actually had to cover their ears at the horrible squawking and blatting noises coming out of his trumpet. Ron's face was as red as his ears when he was done. Draco pulled a finger out of his ear hesitantly.

"That," he said, "was the third worst performance in music I ever heard."

"Oh? Who were numbers one and two worst?" Hermione questioned.

"Number one worst: Crabbe on the violin. They should make it illegal _anywhere_ in the world. Number two worst: Goyle attempting to play piano. I have never heard a worse piano player."

"Ah," Hermione said.

"Sorry, guys. I'm not very musically gifted. None of my family is, except for Perfect Percy," Ron said, blushing again.

"I'll say," Zabini muttered. "Who's next? Weaselbee or Granger?"

"I'll go!" Ginny said. Picking up her viola, she pranced up in front of everyone. The she began playing. She played very well indeed, though maybe not quite as well as Zabini, but better than the Greengrass sisters, and certainly better than Ron. She finished with a grand flourish. Zabini turned to Ron.

"I thought you said your family didn't have talent except for third Weasley!" he said.

"Erm…well, Ginny has a bit too, but Percy's still better, as much as it pains me to admit it," Ron said.

"Right. Whatever. Granger, your turn," Zabini said, turning back to Hermione. Hermione stepped out in front of everyone and cleared her throat. She ransacked her brain for a song, and settled on an aria that was quite difficult, but not so difficult that she couldn't sing it. As she began, her voice rang out sweet and clear, with the obvious ease of a practiced singer who had had years of training. Everyone applauded her loudly when she finished.

"Very nice," Harry said.

"Well, better than me," Ron said dejectedly.

"Phoenix could do better," Draco said.

"Really? I'd like to see her try," Ginny challenged.

"Sure thing. You know, as long as Phoenix agrees. Do you?" Draco looked at Phoenix. She nodded, apparently at ease. "Phoenix is pretty…beastly?...at singing. Truly, she is."

"Right, well, an aria, then. I like arias," Ginny decided. Phoenix came up in front of everyone and they began to sing. And again, she amazed everyone with her performance. Hermione felt like a croaking toad in comparison to her. And then she finished, her beautiful voice dying away in her throat.

"That _was_ better than me," Hermione said.

"Hah. I told you so," Draco said. Zabini looked unsurprised. Phoenix grinned.

"Right, well, music performance is over, what else to do?" Harry asked. Zabini grinned devilishly.

"Oh, there are always things to do if you are clever enough," Zabini said mischievously.

"Like sleeping," Harry suggested. Everyone laughed,

"I agree with Harry," Ron said. "Let's go to be.

"You people go on; Blaise and I have a little business to take care of," Draco said. Everyone laughed again, and they all did go into their various bedrooms to either shower or take a bath or just go straight to bed.

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Very sorry I ended on such a cliffhanger—again. No one tried to help me with the speech; that's why it sucks so bad. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed it!


	8. Chapter 8: Why?

A/N: Please, please review. To everyone that reviewed this story—thanks for your support. Phoenix is going to be a major character in this story. Please tell me if you like her character, all right?

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

"_Oh, there are always things to do if you are clever enough," Zabini said mischievously. _

"_Like sleeping," Harry suggested. Everyone laughed,_

"_I agree with Harry," Ron said. "Let's go to bed._

"_You people go on; Blaise and I have a little business to take care of," Draco said. Everyone laughed again, and they all did go into their various bedrooms to either shower or take a bath or just go straight to bed._

**ACTUAL STORY**

As everyone else went up to bed, Draco pulled Blaise out onto the balcony. He waited until everyone was in their bedroom, then cast a silencing charm around him and Blaise, and then used Muffliato. Then he turned to Blaise.

"So…what did you want again?" Blaise asked.

"Well, I want to tell you something. You know Granger? Well, of course you do. Better get this over with…we're dating. And don't you dare tell anyone else. If you do, I swear, I _will_ hex you until you look like slug jelly. And I do know how to do it."

"Whoa, Drake, what're you saying? You're not serious…" Blaise trailed off.

"Oh, but I am. And you're my best mate, so I figured I should tell you. But don't you dare breathe a word of this to anyone else until I say you can."

"Okay, okay. But God, Drake, Granger? You hated her."

"Not anymore…"

"OBVIOUSLY!"

"Well, then why'd you ask?"

"I didn't actually ask. And because…you _hated_ her. What'd she do to make you _unhate_ her?"

"I don't know, actually. I guess we just sort of…fell together."

"All right. Kissed her yet?"

"BLAISE!"

"What? Since when did asking you about your love life become illegal? You've asked me plenty of questions about mine!"

"Fine. Yes, we've kissed before."

"When?"

"Which time?"

"First time, Drake, always first time."

"During the Autumn Ball."

"Whoa, Drake. That was _ages_ ago. And you're just now telling me?"

"Yes. Again, don't you _dare_ tell anyone, or it might just make its way to my father. And do not tell my father."

"No, I would never, Drake. If I did, all that would happen would be seeing you get beat up again. I hate seeing you like that; you know that!"

"Fair enough. I'm removing the spells now, so don't say anything about this anymore."

"Right you are, Drake." Draco turned around and began removing the spells. Then he turned to Zabini.

"What do you want to do? You know I never sleep this early."

"Hang out in my room? I brought a few things over…"

"All right then. Let's see what you have."

A few hours later, Draco quietly left Blaise's room. Being with Blaise had been fun; he knew that the other boy actually cared about him, and that made Blaise's company one that he enjoyed immensely. Sighing, he went back to his room, where he started reading a Muggle book that Hermione had challenged him to read called Fablehaven. But he found it very boring, so his eyes gradually glazed over and thoughts kept running past his mind, like "this is stupid". A tapping on his window jerked him out of his stupor. He looked up and saw Father's great gray owl Graulas outside his window. Shaking his head, he went and opened the large window, picking up an owl treat from his stash for Narcoblix, his eagle owl. Graulas fluttered in, and Draco gave him the owl treat. Then Graulas stuck out his leg, and Draco quickly untied the scroll of parchment. As he read, horror spread across his features.

_Dear Draco,_

_Your mother has come down with some type of illness that defies all our attempts to cure it. She is now unable to walk because of it. I rather think that she is overreacting to whatever this is. For it cannot be that bad, or else we would have known about it. We have found no trace of poison in her blood, but that means nothing; you know as well as I do that poisons can be dissolved into nothingness without trace after their use. That is all. Do not worry over much; we are moving her to St. Mungo's in a few days. In any case, she's strong, and I just thought you might want to know. Do not come to the Manor or I WILL punish you. _

_Sincerely,_

_Father_

Draco put down the letter, his hands trembling. Mother! When Father had beaten him, Mother had always cared for him, tried to ease his pain as much as possible. When Father had tried to starve him, Mother always found a way to somehow sneak food up to him. Whenever he felt like he needed someone to talk to, Mother had always been there for him. She had even taken beatings for him sometimes. He loved her as much as he had ever loved anyone, and she was one of the only people that he would gladly give up his life for. Tears sprung to his eyes as he thought of Mother, lying alone in her bed with no one that really cared. Thinking so, he grabbed a bag of Floo powder, threw a pinch of it in his bedroom fire, shouted "Malfoy Manor, Mother's bedroom!", and was pulled away in a flash, thinking that as long as his mother was all right, he could deal with anything Father did to him.

He stepped out of the fireplace calmly, though he did not feel so inside. Like he had suspected, no one but Mother was in the room. He could hear Mother's labored breathing coming from her bed. He walked over tentatively.

"Mother?" he whispered. Narcissa turned to him.

"Draco dearest, is that you?" she said, her voice hoarse and thin.

"Yes, it's me, Mother, Father wrote to me about you, and I decided to come visit."

"Oh, dear Draco. I've missed you so much since you were last home. Your father doesn't pay much attention to me, and though I am free to do whatever I wish, I am lonely sometimes."

"Mother, why didn't you tell me? I could have Flooed you from my bedroom; I'm Head Boy, so I have my own private quarters."

"I didn't want to disturb you from your learning. Oh, Draco, just having you here makes me feel better."

"I would've come whatever the consequences."

"Whatever do you mean, darling? Oh, dear, did Lucius threaten you again? Oh, you must go, I don't want any harm to come to you."

"Too late," said a voice from the doorway. Lucius Malfoy stood there, tall and strong. "Come here, Draco, I warned you about coming here. And now you will face the consequences." Draco dragged himself slowly to his father. His father's black, diamond topped staff was in his left hand, as always. Lucius beckoned Draco again, and Lucius led Draco away from the bedroom into a dungeon five floors down. Once they were in there and Lucius had closed the door, Lucius turned to him.

"Take off your shirt, boy," he ordered. Draco didn't move. Lucius strode over and jabbed Draco in the stomach with the diamond end of his staff, leaving Draco doubled over and wheezing. "I said, take off your shirt!" Draco reluctantly did so. Lucius stood before him, imposing and dangerous.

"I told you not to come here. Did I not tell you in the owl? Didn't I?" he demanded. Draco nodded. Lucius hit Draco across his chest hard with his staff, making him stumble backwards.

"I told you I would punish you if you did. Now, I will make good on that promise. A Malfoy never goes back on his word." As he spoke, he whapped Draco a few more times with his staff as hard as possible, and backed him against a wall.

"Stupid—boy—when—will—you—learn—that—when—I—say—to—do—or—not—do—something—you—will—LISTEN!" he shouted, punctuating every word with a blow from his staff. Draco held his rib cage, gasping for breath. Lucius pulled out his wand.

"CRUCIO!" he yelled. Draco screamed and fell to the floor, writhing in pain. No…no…surely his bones were on fire…surely a thousand knives were stabbing him…please make it stop…anything to stop this pain…from the distance, he heard faint screams, and only by the rawness of his throat did he know that those screams came from him…please, please, kill him…anything to make the pain stop…and then it did. Lucius came over again, and whacked Draco again and again as he lay on the floor, helpless. Several cracks echoed throughout the room; his ribs were broken. It was a fiery pain in his chest…he could not breathe…Lucius lifted a conjured whip and began flaying Draco good and hard. Draco wanted to scream with agony, but he couldn't, somehow that ability had left him. Red blood tinged with silver ran on the floor, from his face, his arms, legs, chest, back…everywhere, and more cracks were heard. Then a stamp on his ribs came, and he began coughing up blood. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the blows stopped. Lucius threw him his shirt.

"Put it on, boy. And here are your robes. Put them on too." Draco did so, and staggered to his feet. "You can have this much Floo powder to get out of here. Incendio!Go on, get away." He waved his hand toward Draco, and Draco stumbled across the room to the fire. He dropped the Floo powder in, stepped in the fire, and said, "Blaise Zabini's room at the Summit", and spun away out of Malfoy Manor and into Blaise's room. He nearly fell over when he got out, but managed to stay upright.

"Blaise…help me…" The words came as a whisper, but Blaise caught them, though he was on the other side of the room, reading a wizard magazine. He took one look at Draco, one look at the bloody gash across his face and threw down his magazine and came running over.

"God, Drake, what happened to you? No wait, I don't need to ask, your father, right?" Draco nodded weakly, and Blaise threw out an arm, helping the stumbling Draco up. "Here, I'll carry you to your room."

"You know I don't like that," Draco whispered, a ghost of a grin on his face.

"Yeah, well, I've done it so many times now that it doesn't make that much of a difference anyways," he said, scooping up Draco's body. Draco coughed lightly, spurts of blood coming from his mouth. Zabini looked genuinely worried now.

"Oh, don't fret so much. You know that I look like this every time."

"That doesn't mean I get used to it. Your mother would hate seeing you like this."

"I know. It was on her account I got beaten anyways."

"What?"

"Yes, Father sent me an owl saying that Mother was very sick and for me not to go visit her, but I did, and he beat me for it."

"Why, why won't you listen to your father and avoid a few beatings?"

"I wanted to make sure Mother was all right."

"Wouldn't she be?"

"No. You can't count on that with my father around."

"Good point. Just look at you, Draco, and you're his son."

"I know." By now, Blaise had reached Draco's bedroom and placed his gently on his bed.

"Mind if I take a peek at your injuries?"

"You do anyways, won't make much of a difference."

"Actually, it'll make all the difference in the world. If I don't see your wounds soon, you could die. You know that just as well as I do."

"Yes, yes, go ahead." Blaise tried to remove Draco's robes and jarring him as little as possible. Then he took off his white shirt, which was now stained red with blood. Blaise seemed very concerned as he looked at the shirt. And when he took off Draco's shirt, he hissed. Long, deep gashes cut across the pale, bloodstained flesh. Nubs of bone were about to break the skin, and some had already. Bruises mottled more of his skin, and a sickly greenish liquid also ran out with the blood. His chest looked mangled, like he had been mauled by a lion and bear put together.

"This is very bad."

"Isn't it always?"

"Never this bad. This is the worst I've ever seen you."

"Really? Wow. New levels of violence, eh?"

"This is not a joking matter! Here, take the dittany." Blaise pulled a small bottle out of his robes that was filled with green brown liquid.

"I would, except that I can't swallow."

"Well, then, I'll help you." Tipping the contents of the bottle into Draco's mouth, Blaise muttered a spell under his breath, and rubbed Draco's throat a few times. Then he drew his wand tip across the gashes on Draco's body, chanting a complicated incantation that almost sounded like a lullaby. The gashes stopped bleeding, the flow of the red and silver blood stanched, and then they formed scabs. For the gash on Draco's face, Blaise did all he could, and finally, all trace of the wound disappeared. Then Blaise took out a bottle of clear green liquid.

"Here, drink this now."

"Again, I CAN'T SWALLOW," Draco choked out, coughing again and spraying his covers with blood. Blaise shook his head, and then poured the liquid into Draco's mouth, chanting a spell as he did, so that the liquid was downed. Then he anxiously looked at Draco, as if waiting for a certain reaction. Draco coughed and spluttered, more blood speckling the sheets, but Blaise just sat by, wringing his hands. Then Draco's eyes contracted, and then rolled back in his head. His body bucked and jerked as his breathing became hitched and rushed, and then he became still. His face slowly turned pale, even more than it usually was, whiter than white, like a ghost. His breathing slowly stilled, and then stopped completely. Blaise slowly touched Draco's hand. It was ice cold. Pressing his fingers to the other boy's neck, he searched for a pulse, but could find none. Blaise's eyes widened in horror. Surely this was it. Surely Draco was dead. Blaise gasped, tears running down his cheeks…his best friend…no, he couldn't be dead…and then Draco's breathing started up again and a little color returned to his cheeks, though he was still deathly pale. Slowly, agonizingly, his eyes fluttered open, the silver gray clouded. His breathing came in ragged gasps, but at least he was alive. Blaise was absolutely white, tear tracks still running down his face, and his hands were wringing each other so hard that the skin was slightly pink.

"God, I was afraid you were going to die that time. That poison was really strong; not like the other poisons your dad used."

"I know," Draco whispered, barely audible.

"Of course, every time you take that I'm afraid, but that was really bad, even worse than usual. Oh, God, I really did think you were going to die. You stopped breathing, and you were so…white. Whiter even than usual, I mean."

"Thanks, Blaise."

"Any time, mate. You need to rest now; don't overexert yourself for a few days, and you should be fine. I'll stay with you for a little while—at least until you fall asleep." Draco nodded. Blaise threw the covers over Draco, conjured a chair, and sat down heavily. Soon, Draco's breathing became slow and regular, and Blaise stood up shakily, vanishing the chair with a wave of his wand.

"Lumos," he whispered. Looking around the room, he was shocked at how much blood there was. Draco must've lost tons of it.

"Scourgify Blood," he said, and the blood immediately disappeared. He thought that he had better clean up the rest of the blood too, and walked from the room, muttering the spell every few steps. When he arrived at his room, he said the spell one last time and collapsed on his bed, ready to fall asleep and never wake up. He was _that_ exhausted. Soon, very soon, Blaise was curled up on his bed, walking in Dreamland.

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I will try to finish writing the next chapter as soon as possible, but I have a few competitions coming up, and I have barely any time to write. But I promise, I will as much as I can. Thanks to all!


	9. Chapter 9: Laughter

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I've had a little bit of trouble with writing this chapter. My cousin decided to close this document without saving it or anything, so three pages of this stuff were completely gone. GONE. Luckily, I have a photographic memory, so I was able to remember most of the stuff verbatim. Still. It took me another hour to retype all that stuff. I haven't gotten to killing my cousin just yet, though (kidding, kidding, for those of you with literal brains).

A/N 2: This chapter, though seemingly insignificant, will have larger repercussions in the future. How do you like Blaise? Should I make him nicer, or meaner, or just build on what I have now?

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

"_Lumos," Blaise whispered. Looking around the room, he was shocked at how much blood there was. Draco must've lost tons of it. _

"_Scourgify Blood," he said, and the blood immediately disappeared. He thought that he had better clean up the rest of the blood too, and walked from the room, muttering the spell every few steps. When he arrived at his room, he said the spell one last time and collapsed on his bed, ready to fall asleep and never wake up. He was that exhausted. Soon, very soon, Blaise was curled up on his bed, walking in Dreamland. _

**ACTUAL STORY**

The next morning, Hermione awoke early, as always, and found Draco sitting in the common room reading, as always (though sometimes he drew, and other times he wrote things that she did not know). Phoenix, who always awoke about half an hour before sunrise so she could watch sunrise, was on the balcony, either drawing or writing something. Icefire was perched on her shoulder, looking at whatever she was doing. Hermione slid beside Draco.

"Good morning," she breathed in his ear. Draco didn't look up from his book; he just continued reading it. Hermione frowned. This was not normal behavior. But then again, there were always days that you felt bad, so maybe this was one of these days. She decided to give it a rest and moved to the other couch, pulling out a book from her robes. It was a Muggle book called Artemis Fowl; though usually she didn't read such simple books, this one was exceptionally good. (A/N: For those of you who don't know, Artemis Fowl is an awesome, awesome series about a child genius. READ IT! If you haven't already, that is.) She watched Draco out of the corner of her eye, watching how he flicked the pages, his eyes sweeping across the page. But what she did not notice, however, was the way Draco always kept one hand on his ribs, as if they hurt him. Blaise woke up next, and upon entering the common room, immediately sat down beside Draco and began whispering something to him. Draco shook his head, and Blaise seemed to let it go. Then Blaise somehow produced a wizarding magazine and stuck his nose in it. Ginny entered, and plopped down beside Hermione, and began her usual routine of looking at the Muggle book and asking questions. The Greengrass sisters then entered, and sat on another couch. Finally, Harry and Ron came out of their bedrooms and faced the group.

"I think we're last," Ron whispered loudly so that everyone could hear him. Hermione grinned. Blaise did not.

"As you've been kind enough to finally get up, would you mind actually hurrying and coming down to breakfast!" he said.

"Shut up, Zabini. Nobody cares about your opinion."

"I do," Draco said. But it didn't really sound exactly like Draco. His voice sounded slightly hoarse and scratchy, not like the clear full tones he usually had. Hermione frowned. Maybe he was coming down with a cold or something.

"I agree with Blaise," Ginny piped up. "I'm hungry." Ron laughed amiably and nodded his consent.

"One question. Anyone know where the dining hall _is_?" Draco demanded.

"Yes. In the other building," Harry replied snidely.

"Shut up, Potty. I meant, could you lead us to it."

"No, but Robert could," Harry said. Just then a loud knock was heard from their door. Robert's voice floated over.

"Hey, you lazy Hogwarts lot! Hurry up and get out here! I'm STARVING and I actually want to eat! Oh, and BRING YOUR BATHING SUITS!" Harry turned to Draco.

"There you go," he said. Draco just smirked infuriatingly and stood up. He seemed to wobble a little, but Hermione ignored it. Everyone else who was sitting sighed and stood up too, and Hermione tucked _Artemis Fowl_ back in her robes, along with her bathing suit that she summoned from her room. They walked together out the suite, where Robert was waiting. Hermione noted that the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were not there yet.

"Good, now we can get Beauxbatons," Robert said. He strode over to a seemingly blank stretch of wall, muttered a password that Hermione couldn't hear, and a blue and silver door appeared, gilded and frilly. Robert banged on the door.

"Yo, Beauxbatons! We are going to be LATE to breakfast if you don't hurry! And bring your bathing suits!" he yelled. Two seconds later, Gabrielle's face poked out of the door, hair perfectly styled, but she still looked vehemently at Robert.

"We at Beauxbatons take care of our own. We do not need ozzers telling us what to do."

"Well, unless you want to miss breakfast, HURRY UP!" Robert shouted. Gabrielle scowled and slammed the door. But two minutes later, all the Beauxbatons people showed up.

"Great, now Durmstrang," Robert muttered. He walked over to another apparently blank stretch of wall, while the people from Hogwarts and Beauxbatons followed, Hogwarts cheerfully and Beauxbatons rather sullenly. Robert muttered yet another password to the wall, and a black carved door appeared, without much decoration. He banged on this door too.

"DURMSTRANG! Breakfast time! Beauxbatons and Hogwarts are already with me, so hurry up, you lazy louts. Perry will KILL me if we're late for the representatives' first outing! And bring your bathing suits too!" he shouted. There seemed to be no response at first, but three minutes later, the door opened and the Durmstrang group filed out and closed the door behind them, which vanished, as did the other doors. Robert clapped his hands once.

"Great, you're all here. Now can we PLEASE go eat?" he exclaimed. Without waiting for a reply, he strode off, leaving the others to follow after him. Although Hermione did not notice it, Draco leaned heavily on Blaise.

Draco had woken up that morning with his gashes aching horribly. He had just come to the common room and sat down, reading up on Mother's sickness and possible cures. Hermione had said hi to him, but he had not felt up to speaking, so he hadn't answered. Then Blaise came down and fussed over him a little, until Draco said he was fine, and then Blaise had stopped, but he still sat by Draco. And then he realized every time he tried to take a step he wobbled, on the edge of falling, so he had leaned on Blaise, who didn't complain at all. He just steadied Draco. And after a few steps, every step he took sent bolts of pain up his body, and he had leaned on Blaise even more, and he had just let Draco. Blaise seemed to really know what Draco needed and was eager to provide it. Now, walking down the hallway, barely able to walk save for Blaise, who helped him so discreetly that no one had suspected anything, Draco's eyes were watering slightly from the jolts of pain, which worsened with each step.

"Easy, Drake. Your father's beatings aren't the easiest to withstand, and this one was particularly bad," Blaise said when Draco nearly stumbled, despite Blaise's help. _Thanks_, Draco thought sarcastically. But he didn't say anything. After all Blaise had done for him, it didn't seem fair. He tripped again, and Blaise caught him before he could fall. Luckily, nobody noticed this.

"Careful, man. Don't hurt yourself. I don't want all your little girlfriends blaming me for your death." Blaise chuckled at his own joke. Draco smiled weakly. That _had_ been kind of funny.

Finally, they reached the breakfast hall, where some people were already seated, others not. The tables were laden with delicious-looking food, but most of it was exotic. Draco gripped Blaise's arm tightly but inconspicuously to keep from passing out from all the overwhelming smells and sounds. Blaise winced.

"You're going to stop circulation in my arm if you don't loosen your hold," Blasie commented.

"Sorry," Draco gasped. Now Blaise looked concerned.

"Drake, usually you recover so fast from beatings. I mean, two hours and no one would ever be able to tell you'd been hurt. This isn't normal."

"Is anything in my life ever normal?" Draco managed to choke out.

"We're sitting down at the first seats we find that are empty and will seat nine or ten," Blaise decided. Very soon, they found a place. Draco sat down gratefully, and Blaise sat next to him. Phoenix sat on Draco's other side, and the Greengrass sisters were beside her. Facing Blaise sat Ginny, and then Hermione in front of Draco, and then Potty and Weasel sat next to her, and then Robert sat next to them. Ron dug in enthusiastically, his mouth bulging with food from all countries, while Draco picked slowly at his. Robert was eating with gusto, but not quite as disgustingly as Ron. Blaise ate too, but looked at Draco often, like he was making sure he was all right (which of course he was). Draco's ribs ached dully, but it was nothing too bad. He sighed, and resigned himself to further poking at his food.

Hermione watched Draco carefully but discreetly. Something seemed to be wrong with him. Seriously wrong. But then again, maybe it was just her being paranoid. She shook it off. Ginny was looking at Zabini unabashedly, her gaze focusing directly on him.

_He's got fine cheekbones. High, very sophisticated. Hmmm…his eyes…black, aren't they? Big almond shaped black eyes that are slightly slanted…very pretty. Very good form, nice musculature, skin a deep golden-brown…lovely. Hair…it's slightly wavy and black. Hah. Malfoy's opposite, hard to see why they are best friends._ So thought Ginny as she carefully observed Blaise. _Now Malfoy…he's got high cheekbones too, but they're slightly more gracefully curved, but very, very sophisticated. His eyes are a shining silver, and slightly almond shaped and slanted, nothing as extreme as Blaise's but still very pretty. Maybe even better musculature than Blaise, extremely good form, and his skin is white, almost like parchment, but you can see the life in him, makes him very hot. His hair…silver and gold mixed together, very, very smooth. Those two _are_ complete opposites. According to all reason, they shouldn't be friends. But then, there is that saying about opposites attract". Maybe that is true. After all, what do Hermione and Draco have in common in besides grades? Nothing. They're complete opposites…and now look. Snogging without anyone knowing. But I did like Harry before, and I still kind of do now…should that affect my decision? No, no, I've gotten over Harry, I'm going after Blaise now._ Ginny finished her analysis of the boys and looked around the rest of the room, seeing if there were any other boys to be interested in. But no other boy could match the prowess of Blaise (except, of course, Draco), and so she set her mind and heart on Blaise. Ginny looked over at Hermione, who was casting worried looks at Draco every few seconds. Ginny frowned. Hermione wouldn't act like this unless something was wrong. But then again, maybe it was just Hermione being paranoid. After all, she cared deeply for Draco. Something about this nagged at her, but she shrugged it off and resumed eating.

Two minutes later, Robert finished eating and got his group's attention.

"HEY! Hogwarts, Durm-whatever and the other one! We're going sightseeing now, so I'm going to go alert Perry. You had best prepare yourselves. Oh, and pretty blond boy, be careful with the kinifee." Draco had been inspecting a dagger he always kept with him for self-defense. He looked up at Robert.

"Are you talking to me?" he asked, running his finger along the flat side of the dagger.

"Yes, and as I said before, be careful with the kinifee." With that, Robert strode away to wherever Perry was to alert him about sightseeing. Draco turned to Phoenix.

"What is a kinifee?" he asked helplessly.

"It's a variant of knife, since that's what the word looks like on paper," Phoenix replied offhandedly, pulling out a bottle of clear fluid and marking it.

"Why can't these Americans just call things what they are?" he muttered under his breath. He stood up, gripping Blaise's shoulder and swaying slightly. Blaise too, stood up and gave the guise of being normal and slapped Draco on the back, though not hard enough to cause any discomfort.

By now, all of Robert's group were standing, and Robert came back with Pierre and his group, which included Mellyssa, the black haired witch that had played Wuah! with them yesterday. Ron practically drooled at the sight of her. Ginny stifled a giggle at the puppy dog look on her brother's face, his eyes following Mellyssa hungrily. She chuckled to herself, though. Ron liking an American girl…and his distaste for everything American! She had to laugh at that. Hermione looked at her rather anxiously when she did. Ginny let her gaze trail to Blaise. She vowed to herself that she would get him, no matter what. Then Robert and Pierre began calling out roll.

"Right, this is just group roster to make sure that everyone is here," Robert said. "My group, say "here" when your name is called. Andrews, Peter! No, wait, that's _me_, why did I call out my own name? OH! Of course…leader status. Right…well…Beauxbatons first, since you are first alphabetically… Abraham, George!"

"Here," a small dark skinned boy called out, wearing the blue robes of Beauxbatons. The roll call continued, and Hermione made note of every name called out on a notepad and a Quick Quotes Quill she carried everywhere. Robert's roster:

_**Beauxbatons Academy of Magic**_

Abraham, George  
Avidsia, Bellaretta  
Delacour, Gabrielle  
Freschia, Alcomenda  
Luxas, Promedthius  
Romeure, Rochelle  
Tuppeu, Olivia  
Wentoire, Thomas

_**Durmstrang Institute of Magic and Sorcery**_

Achmald, Karakiff  
Herschwald, Ghellart  
Krum, Dowell  
Luscar, Prokofieff  
Prokvias, Geshart  
Prosgrot, Harveklias  
Sragorte, Helvinia  
Vicurkias, Durant

_**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**_

Granger, Hermione  
Greengrass, Astoria  
Greengrass, Daphne  
Malfoy, Draco  
Phoenix  
Potter, Harry  
Weasley, Ginevra  
Weasley, Ronald  
Zabini, Blaise

**Pierre's roster:**

_**Estheria Alabama Academy of Magic**_

Adams, Sarah  
Clark, Kennedy  
Hayworth, Jacob  
Martin, Katelyn  
Smith, Elizabeth  
Williams, Kasey  
White, Harris  
White, Jeffrey

_**Conan North American Institute of Sorcery**_

Barry, Jocelyn  
Carson, Maya  
Davies, Fiona  
Edwards, Jake  
Jones, Nicholas  
Marks, Lindsey  
Reine, Veronica  
Sidney, Forrest

_**Halverson North-Eastern American School of Charms**_

Brown, Lauren  
Burton, Michael  
Davidson, Katherine  
Goodman, Zachary  
Harper, Leah  
Havens, Mellyssa  
Karter, Jasper  
Logan, Noah  
Woods, Cassidy

_**Jeod Northwestern School of Sorcery**_

Amber, Penelope  
Charles, Annette  
Evans, Martha  
Grace, Priscilla  
Heath, Kristena  
Michaels, Hayden  
Lee, Logan  
Lockhart, Leonard

Finally, all the names were called out, and Robert and Perry folded up their respective sheets of parchment. Pierre started talking.

"Good, good, everyone is here. Now, we will be flying over the island—but not on broomsticks. No, no broomsticks, even if you own one. Come on, everyone, I'll show you."Saying so, he and Robert led the way out of the hall, out of the dome, and into a courtyard, where there were two dozen Abraxan winged horses, like the ones that pulled Beauxbaton's carriage, and a dozen thestrals. Draco felt a wave of gratitude wash over him at the sight of the thestrals. They had saved his life before, and they were a lot better tempered than those Abraxan horses. Robert began talking.

"All right, pick what you want to ride: Abraxan horse or thestral. Two to an Abraxan horse, or else we won't have enough, even if every group takes a different mode of transportation, which we are. You can ride the thestrals too, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you can actually see them. Hey, how many of you have ridden a thestral before?" To nobody's surprise, Potter put a hand up in the air. Then so did Herm—Granger, the Weasel, and Phoenix. That girl did not seem to have a last name. Draco and Blaise raised their hands as well, and one other girl from the American group named Veronica Reine raised their hands. Pierre whistled.

"Whoa. Seven out of fifty five in a group. That has _got_ to be some kind of record. Okay, how many of you can actually _see _the thestrals?" Draco, Blaise, Granger, Phoenix, and Potter raised their hands. "Oh. That's…an awful lot for just one school. Anyways, mount your horses or thestrals!" Draco chose to ride a thestral. He could see it perfectly; oh yes. After watching Voldemort murder a Muggle-born in front of the entire legion of Death Eaters and their children…he shuddered at the memory. Blaise kept a hand on Draco's shoulder all the while, ready to help him if the need arose. Draco, with some effort, got onto a thestral without hurting himself further. He noticed that out of the Golden Trio, only Ron chose not to ride a thestral. Blaise got onto the thestral beside him. Robert and Pierre led the way on two Abraxan horses, though thestrals were swifter and smoother. Draco knew; he had also ridden Abraxan horses quite a few times before. But thestrals were much gentler and less liable to hurt him. And he had quite an injury to his ribs. He laughed in his head.

Harry mounted his thestral and waited impatiently for them to start. Hermione sat on a thestral and looked absolutely terrified. He smiled reassuringly at her, and she smiled back weakly. Then their group leaders mounted their Abraxan steeds and lifted off. Hermione looked like this was her doom. She wrapped her arms around the neck of the thestral tightly, sometimes burying her face in her sleeves. They followed Pierre and Robert all around the island, seeing everything from the skies. Here was a groove of beautiful and exotic plants; there was a stretch of peachy white beach, lapped upon by blue waves foamed with white. Icefire came up behind them after five minutes, and warbled at Phoenix, who was riding a thestral and pointed at her own back with her wand, muttered a spell, and sprouted golden wings. Then she jumped off her thestral and started actually flying with them. Icefire followed Phoenix, and Phoenix followed Icefire, and everyone except those from Hogwarts gasped at the display. The Hogwarts people, however, had seen this quite a few times before, so it was nothing new, but it was still beautiful. Harry grinned from the back of his thestral. If Colin Creevey was here, he would be taking so many pictures that the camera flashes would start looking like routine explosions. Smiling, Harry flung his arms out and laughed. This feeling of being so free, wind whipping through his hair, up in the sky, where he felt like a god, happiness pumping through him…pure paradise. He laughed again, a laugh so wild and filled with joy and emotion that he thought his heart might burst. This was flying as he'd never experienced it before! Suddenly, the thestral dived down, down, down, then came up again at an amazing speed. Harry's robes whipped out behind him. This was as good as a Firebolt! No, better! This thestral was just as fast, easier to hold on to, and it was living. He, Harry, didn't control it; it controlled itself. And that just made it all the better, because Harry never knew what was going to happen next, and the thestral would not throw him off, that he was sure of. This was life. This was what he had been missing.

Draco, meanwhile, was not having such a great time. Every stroke that the thestral took jarred his ribs, and they hurt like crazy. He gasped for breath, and spurts of agony wracked his frame. Hearing Potter laugh like the world was his was too much. It sent him over the edge. Fuming, he searched in his robes for his wand. Pulling it out, he cast a spell temporarily numbed his midsection, until he could feel nothing there. He sighed as the spell took effect. Much better. Even if his wounds would get worse if the spell was there for too long. A gentle breeze swept through his hair, and he laughed in exhilaration. Potter and Weasel whipped their heads around in shock, lines of surprise etched all in their faces. He grinned, and laughed again. He thought he had never felt better. No pain, only pleasure at riding the winds under a blue, blue sky and a burst of gold across it. Laughing once again, Draco looked up into the sky to find what he had never had enough of in his entire life—happiness.

Hermione heard Draco laughing and raised her head from between her arms for the first time since take off. It was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. It sounded like music and angels, pure joy personified. Tears sprung to her eyes as she listened to his lovely peals of clear, bright laughter ringing out in the wind. He had had so little joy in his life! If anyone deserved some happiness, it was him. Oh, yes, she had heard him laugh before, but never in true happiness. Never in just pure…joy. This was the first time she'd heard this. And she vowed to herself that she would do anything in her power to make him laugh like that again.

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I will try to finish writing the next chapter as soon as possible, but I have a few competitions coming up, and I have barely any time to write. But I promise, I will as much as I can. Thanks to all!


	10. Chapter 10: Loss and Rescue

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed.

**OhhKae:** Someone will definitely die in this story. Not sure who yet, but someone will. You can't write a really good long term Dramione fanfic without someone dying or being dead and having a huge impact… but rest assured, it will definitely not be the following: Hermione, Draco, Harry, Ginny, Blaise, Phoenix, Dumbledore, or Ron.

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

_Hermione heard Draco laughing and raised her head from between her arms for the first time since take off. It was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. It sounded like music and angels, pure joy personified. Tears sprung to her eyes as she listened to his lovely peals of clear, bright laughter ringing out in the wind. He had had so little joy in his life! If anyone deserved some happiness, it was him. Oh, yes, she had heard him laugh before, but never in true happiness. Never in just pure…joy. This was the first time she'd heard this. And she vowed to herself that she would do anything in her power to make him laugh like that again._

**ACTUAL STORY**

Robert and Pierre led them down at about three in the afternoon after seeing the whole island by way of flight. Though none of them could explain it, none of them felt the slightest bit hungry. They landed on a strip of beach where the water was exceptionally clear and blue, where there were palm trees swayed gently, where the sand was soft and light as rose petals and white as snow, where a cliff rose behind them but did not look or feel the slightest bit intimidating. Robert and Pierre dismounted from their huge steeds and motioned for everyone to do the same. Once they had, the steeds went off into the shade to feed on the grass that grew there. Robert began instructing them.

"Well, we told you to bring bathing suits. Now go and put them on! Girls behind that big rock; guys in that grove of trees. No skinny-dipping allowed. Got it? Now go!" Draco cursed a little. His wounds! Ach, he would just have to put a Solid Into Air configuration on them until he got back. The drawback of this spell was that everything remained the same as when it entered the gaseous stage, so his wounds wouldn't heal while they were air. That and the wounds would drain his energy, slowly but surely, which meant that if he kept this spell on for the remainder of his life, the remainder of his life would be no more than one year. Now the tricky part was being precise of where he wanted to diminish the wounds. He threw off his shirt once he entered the banana grove. First he removed the numbing spell he had put on earlier, and then carefully poked his wounds and muttered the intricate spell needed. When he was done, his chest was unblemished, as was his back and every other part of him. He changed into his swimming trunks, gathered his other items and enchanted them so no one but he and anyone he expressly gave permission to would be able to touch them. Then he walked out of the grove, where some of the others were already assembled, most of whom who were girls in skimpy bikinis. They giggled and flipped their hair as he walked out. Then he saw Hermione and smiled briefly at her, and sent her a facial message not to come over, which she responded to by nodding slightly twice. He smiled again and went over to the other girls.

Hermione changed into her own one piece bathing suit, which was a lovely cerulean, the color of blue seas. When she emerged from behind the rocks, she found Draco already done with changing. She smiled. He had swum with her quite a few times before in their meadow, and he was very good at it. His chest, as always, was very muscular and very chiseled. The other girls giggled over him, and he faced her and smiled slightly. She returned that smile, and he said with his face, _Don't come over here. We'll lose our cover._ She nodded twice to show she understood. He smiled again and turned to the other girls. She felt a hot surge of jealousy wash over her as he talked and smiled to the other girls, who flirted openly with him. She felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned around. A very pretty American girl with creamy gold skin, slim body shape, blond and brown hair, and sparkling green eyes almost as bright as Harry's (almost, but not quite) faced her. She was wearing a bikini that only clad her in the barest necessities. Her chest literally looked like it was about to pop out of the bikini top. She looked at Hermione.

"Hi, I'm Sarah Adams from the Estheria Alabama Academy of Magic. Our representatives said that we should try to make friends with people from other schools…so hi. Again, I'm Sarah Adams."

"I'm Hermione Granger, from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A Gryffindor."

"Nice to meet you, Hermione. By the way, do you know who that boy is?'

"Which boy? There are a lot of boys here," Hermione said, though she knew perfectly well who Sarah was talking about.

"The pretty blond one…the one who's wearing those green and silver silk swim trunks," Sarah clarified, though she hardly needed to.

"Yes, he's Draco Malfoy. We've been enemies since first year…eleven years old, by American count," Hermione answered rather grumpily. Sarah didn't seem to notice.

"Ooh, he looks like he's spun out of moonlight," Sarah whispered. Hermione laughed. Now _that_ was one description of Draco that she hadn't heard before. But it was true. He seemed to give off a faint silver glow that was barely visible but there nonetheless.

"Think I can have a shot at him? All the other girls are…what about you, Hermione?"

"Go ahead and have a go at him," Hermione said calmly, though every particle of her being was screaming, _He's mine! MINE! You can't have him!_ "I don't think I will, though." _Because he already cares about me! Doesn't he? He'll refuse all those girls, I trust him to do that…_ But there were seeds of doubt in her mind now. What if Draco _didn't_ refuse them? She shuddered at the thought. She cared very deeply for Draco now, even if she didn't want to admit it. Leaving Sarah to drool after Draco, she walked into the waves of the clear, clear blue ocean and cast a Hearing Honing Spell so she could hear what Draco and those around him were saying.

"…and you're so gorgeous!" A high pitched giggle, and then the voice continued. "Mmmm…wanna go out with me?" Hermione stiffened at that, the warm waves gently lapping at her feet. _No!_ her mind screamed. _Never, never in a million years, will you ever, _ever_, get to go with Draco! He is MINE! _She kicked at the water violently, her thoughts a whirlwind. Since when did she begin to care about Draco so much? Since when? Then she realized that when she had been contemplating, she had failed to hear Draco's answer. Oh God, oh God…what if he actually had said yes? Tears sprung to her eyes, and then she shook it off, telling herself that she was just being stupid. She focused on their voices yet again.

"Oh, you are so irresistible!" Sarah's voice said. Hermione's hands clenched involuntarily. "I would ask you out, but that wouldn't be fair to Kasey." Hermione's eyes widened. Had Draco actually said yes to the girl? She didn't want to think about it, so she plunged into the ocean, which was much warmer than you would've expected, placing a Bubble-Head Charm on herself. She kicked angrily through the water propelling herself quickly through the silken water. She dived and kicked, swam and turned, trying to get her mind off Draco and those awful girls. When she finally came up to the surface, she realized with a start that she could no longer see land. Oh, God…what if she couldn't find her way back? She had sent her wand away to her clothes as soon as she had performed the Bubble-Head Charm, so now she didn't have magic on her side. What was she going to do? Suddenly, something tugged on her ankle. She screamed once and looked down. But the thing had surfaced by now too. It was…it was…Draco. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't do that to me! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" she said. Draco merely grinned, showing his mouthful of bright white teeth. "How did you find me anyways? I can't even see land from here." Draco harrumphed.

"We're about ten miles off shore. You've been swimming for about five hours. Potty and Weasel got worried and started searching for you—to no avail, of course. Then I did a Translocator spell and swam here. Actually, that was two hours ago. I've been trying to catch up to you for that long."

"Oh…" Hermione muttered, ashamed of herself. Draco smiled.

"Don't worry, I have my wand and some gillyweed. But before we go back…" Draco pulled out his wand and waved it, and a bubble appeared around them. He ducked into the water, dragging Hermione along with him. Then he dived down to the very bottom, which was about a mile down. Hermione looked surprised.

"What are you doing?" she asked in a small voice.

"Giving you the best underwater kiss of all time," he said, his silver eyes glowing. Then he leaned toward Hermione, and met her lips. She threw her arms around Draco's neck and ran her fingers through his silky hair. She felt like she was falling…falling…falling forever and ever. The soft touch of his lips on hers was sweet and beautiful. She loved how gentle he was with her, and she knew that his breath was becoming her breath, and hers his. For the longest time, they kissed, until they could no longer breathe. He pulled away slowly and smiled gently. Her heart melted. How could she have ever thought he'd go out with another girl? He pulled out some gillyweed and handed it to her. She put it into her mouth, chewed the rubbery stuff, and swallowed. Piercing pain bit the sides of her neck, and it felt like an invisible pillow had been pressed over her nose and mouth. She panicked as she struggled to breathe, but the air made her head spin. Draco waved his wand and the Bubble disappeared. She sucked in water, and suddenly, everything was okay again. Her feet and hands were webbed, and she had gills, but other than that, she looked the same. Draco smiled and took her hand, pulling her along with him. She was about to ask Draco how he knew where shore was, then bit back the question, deciding that she would trust him.

After what seemed like minutes (though it had actually been four hours), the gillyweed wore off, and they had to come up for air. Hermione realized that she was very near land now. She could see the figures of Harry, Ron, Blaise, Phoenix and Ginny pacing in the moonlight (because it was, after all, night now). She and Draco swam for another five minutes, and then they could stand. They let go of each other's hands and walked back up on shore. Harry came running at her and hurled himself at her, making them stumble a few feet back into the surf.

"Oh, thank goodness! I was so worried. Ginny was completely freaking out, Ron was hyperventilating, and Zabini seemed really, really worried about Malfoy. He was muttering something about "no overexertion, he'll hurt himself", or something of the equivalent. Phoenix, for some reason, was calm." Harry released Hermione and stood back. "Great, now my clothes are wet." Hermione laughed. Ron looked at her grumpily and began talking at top speed.

"Where were you? Robert and Pierre took everyone else back to the Dome. We waited for you and Malfoy, and Robert said that we only needed to mount the thestrals because they would know the way back. And he said that at midnight, no matter if we'd found you or not, he said that we had to "get back to the dormitories or else!" We said okay, but you didn't really think we would leave you, right?"

"Never! Thanks, let's get back to the dorms now, all right?" Hermione said.

"Yeah, before Blaise dies of worry," Draco growled. Blaise grinned sheepishly.

"We also took the liberty of packing your clothes, Hermione. We weren't able to touch yours, Malfoy, because every time someone came within three inches of them, an electric shock went through them," Harry said. Draco nodded.

"That's kind of what they were _supposed_ to do. Anti-theft spell." Harry shook his head.

"Can we just go now? I'm freezing," Ginny said. They all consented, and mounted their thestrals, Hermione and Draco still in their bathing suits. Hermione made sure her eyes were closed the entire time, and gripped the thestral as tightly as possible. She uttered a muffled shriek at the end of the flight, when the thestral landed and jarred her. Harry laughed and helped her off. She opened her eyes…and they were on the balcony of their suite. She breathed out.

"Robert said we should call a few house elves to get us some food once we land," Ron said. Hermione then noticed that Draco and Blaise were missing.

"Where'd Malfoy and Zabini go?" she asked.

"Oh, they went to their rooms as soon as they dismounted. Don't know why, couldn't care less," Ron answered. Hermione frowned. Something was not quite right.

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Please, please, PLEASE review or comment. They're my inspiration for what will come next… so if you read my story, please review on it. Still unsure about…everything.


	11. Chapter 11: A Little Truth

A/N: I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long, but we've had a few high school math tournaments that I get to participate in (yay me), and I've been coaching some Science Olympiad events, and then there are the TEST S and HOMEWORK and QUIZZES that get thrown at us. And I'm in honors (aka IB/AP classes)…everything. That plus flute every day for an hour is enough to make anyone's head spin.

**OhhKae:** Thank you so much! Let OhhKae be an inspiration to us all!

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

"_Robert said we should call a few house elves to get us some food once we land," Ron said. Hermione then noticed that Draco and Blaise were missing._

_ "Where'd Malfoy and Zabini go?" she asked._

_ "Oh, they went to their rooms as soon as they dismounted. Don't know why, couldn't care less," Ron answered. Hermione frowned. Something was not quite right._

**ACTUAL STORY**

Draco was in some serious pain by now. Zabini charmed the door so that no one could enter without permission and Alohomora wouldn't work. He had also cast a few Silencing Charms around the room (which was Draco's bedroom). Draco gritted his teeth. As soon as he had had the chance (which presented itself when he went to go pack his clothes), he had removed the Solid into Air charm and had done an Invisibility charm instead. Invisibility Charms couldn't make an entire person invisible, but they could be used to hide certain parts of something. And then he realized that he was bleeding profusely on the back of the thestral, and there was a lot of pain involved too. Burning, searing pain. So of course, as soon as he had gotten off the thestral, he had lurched off to his room with Blaise behind his heels. Then he had lain down so that it wouldn't hurt so much, and Blaise charmed the door, and now here he was.

Blaise removed Draco's shirt first, then removed the Invisibility Charm, and growled softly when he saw the copious amounts of blood that were flowing from the wounds.

"I told you, I _told_ you, Drake, you shouldn't overexert yourself. Look at this!" he cried. He dipped two fingers into a deep gash while Draco hissed in pain as Blaise's fingers came up, dripping thick red blood tinged with silver.

"That hurts," Draco whispered.

"I KNOW it does! And this is why you shouldn't try swimming miles out to sea to get someone. Let me do it next time you get beat up by your stinking father! Look at this!" Blaise yelled, waving the two fingers, which were still dripping blood. "Now STAY STILL while I close your wounds. After that, I'm going to my room to brew a potion. It'll take a few hours, and that'll provide enough time for your body to get used to not being sliced open. Then I'll come back, probably after about two hours, and the potion I'm making is called—"

"I KNOW what the potion is called! You've done this to me before, you know, that time when my back wasn't really my back anymore. So skip the lecture and try to help me already," Draco growled between gritted teeth. Blaise blinked, but did as Draco said. Passing his wand over the gashes, Blaise chanted the same rhythmic, soothing spell he had used the day before. He did this four times, until the bleeding had stopped completely, scabs were formed on the larger gashes, and the other smaller wounds had turned into white scars. Blaise lifted his wand. Draco's eyes were closed, but they opened weakly as soon as the tingle of magic left him.

"Thanks," Draco murmured, sitting up.

"You're welcome. Now, I am going to go brew a potion, and will come back in about two hours. Keep yourself alive until then. Everyone else has gone to bed, but I'm still keeping the enchantments on. So be sure to let me in. I'll knock before I come in. And make sure you're standing up when you let me in. That way I can check you over without undue stress. Don't put your shirt on, but don't take off anything else either. All right?" Blaise instructed. Draco nodded, and Blaise hurried from the room, closing the door with a snap behind him. Draco flopped back down on his bed, waiting for the next two hours to pass.

Hermione rolled around in her bed. There was definitely something wrong with Draco. She looked at her watch, one of the few Muggle contraptions she still kept with her. She groaned. Two hours since they had returned from the beach. She knew that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep until she had made sure Draco was all right. Thinking so, she slipped on her slippers and moved quietly out of her room. There was light coming from the crack under the door of Draco's room. Tentatively, she knocked on the door.

"Blaise, it's you, isn't it? Come in," Draco's voice said. Hermione opened the door, and walked in on a shirtless, scarred Draco who looked very surprised at finding someone who wasn't Blaise in his room. Hermione pushed the door shut behind her, letting it fall where it may.

"You're not Blaise," Draco said. Hermione stood petrified, horrified at the horrible scars and scabs mangling his chest. Dried blood streaked with silver clung to his skin, and blue and black bruises mottled the small patches of skin that wasn't covered with gore, scars, or scabs. His bed was covered with the red and silver stuff, and some of the carpet was soaked with it. There was more of it everywhere else too.

"No, I'm not Zabini," Hermione said softly. "Oh, poor baby. What happened? Why didn't you tell me anything?" She walked slowly forward, arms limp by her sides. She stopped two feet from him and shakily reached out tentatively with one hand. Her hand rested lightly on one of his wounds, and she traced it gently with the tip of one finger. He winced at the touch. At this point, even a feather or a rose petal passed across his wounds would pain him greatly. Hermione's eyes filled with tears as she surveyed Draco's body.

"Oh, baby, you must be hurting so bad," she said tenderly. "What happened?"

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me," Draco replied.

"Have you looked at yourself? You're not all right if there was ever something called "not all right" in this world," Hermione whispered, tears running down her cheeks. Then her gaze fell upon the Dark Mark on Draco's left forearm. She held it up.

"What's this?" she asked. Draco looked away from the jet black mark disfiguring his skin.

"It's the Dark Mark. When Voldemort was still in power, my father made me get this. I didn't want to at all; I hated the idea of Voldemort, and his ideals, but my father used the Cruciatus Curse on me until I was too weak to stand up or resist at all. Then he took me to Voldemort, where he branded me with…that. You haven't seen it before because every time I'm with you, I use an Invisibility Charm on it. I was afraid of what you'd think of me if you ever knew about it." He fell silent as Hermione's eyes brimmed with tears again. What type of father used the Cruciatus Curse on his own son? She looked up into Draco's eyes.

"I don't think any the worse of you for this," she said gently. "It wasn't your choice, and you didn't want to. That's more important than the fact that you have this. Actually, it just means that you are brave. It's a souvenir of your past and a reminder of how courageous you really are." Draco's eyes flickered with relief as Hermione reassured him. Hermione moved on to the silver streaks mixed with the red blood.

"Why is there silver here?" she asked hesitantly, not sure if this was too personal a question. Draco looked down at it.

"Oh, that. It's my blood," he replied.

"Why is it silver?" Hermione asked.

"I'm half veela, and veela blood is silver and red," he answered nonchalantly, shrugging and then wincing as pain wracked his shoulders. Hermione's eyes widened. Part veela? She looked him over once again. It certainly would explain why it seemed that he radiated soft moonlight. And he did share a certain resemblance to Fleur Delacour, who was also a part veela. Draco sensed the questions before Hermione could ask them.

"My father is half veela and my mother is half veela, so I'm half veela. Actually, for about ten generations, it's been the tradition for a Malfoy to marry another part veela. But it's not one of the more…strict pureblood policies. And I probably do share a resemblance to old Fleur Delacour, but if you've noticed, she's more of a …golden type, and it seems like she radiates sunlight. That's because she's of the Sun Fire Clan, and I'm of the Moon Star Clan. There are four veela clans—Moon Star Clan, Sun Fire Clan, Sky Wind Clan, and Earth Forest Clan. Each represents a different ancient element. Sun Fire Clan is fire, Sky Wind Clan is air, Earth Smoke Clan is earth, and Moon Star Clan is water. Of those, the Moon Star Clan also represents magic and the arts. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that veela of the Moon Star Clan are gifted at either of those. The Clan just represents it. And the less veela you are, the less silver blood there is in you. Almost all pureblood families have some veela in them. Even the Weasleys, though the amount is miniscule to the tiniest degree. They probably haven't intermarried with a veela for about a thousand years. Even so, you can see hints of the Sun Fire Clan in them. Blaise is about an eighth veela, so he doesn't have as much silver blood as I do, but he has a lot more than the Weasleys and enough silver blood that you will see it should he ever get hurt. He is of the Sky Wind Clan. They tend to be darker skinned, but still quite attractive. But there are elements of every veela that are there no matter what clan. For example, we tend to be slightly possessive, though not much, and if your blood is diluted, even less. But the fact remains that you will be more possessive than other normal wizards and witches. Then, all veela have high cheekbones and slightly slanted and rather large eyes. Our eyes can change color—from our normal color to gold, sometimes, or black at others. We are all more than normally attractive to normal wizards. And that's the rudimentary elements of veela—one tenth veela to full veela, that is. If you're less veela, then everything could be sharper and more focused, or blurred out in your features." Draco fell silent, his voice hoarse from all the explaining. Hermione drank in every word that he spoke and stored it away in her brain, and then continued with her inspection of him. Tears were really streaming down her cheeks now, in a fast flowing river. God, Draco must be hurting so much! She passed her finger across more wounds. Draco winced and his face twisted into a grimace, but he did not move. Hermione finished, then stepped back. She wanted to hug him, but that would hurt him…

"Why did you think I was Blaise?" she asked.

"Oh, he's due to come back any moment now…there he is!" Draco said, for there was a resounding knock on his door at that very moment. "Wait…I probably should make sure. After all, last time I didn't…and you're not Blaise." Draco raised his voice. "Blaise, that you?"

"Yeah, Drake, who else would it be?" Blaise's voice answered.

"Then come in," Draco replied. Blaise pushed the door open, closed it behind him softly, and turned around. He scowled when he saw Hermione standing there.

"Didn't realize you had your girlfriend over, Drake," Blaise said. Hermione started to protest , but Draco cut her off.

"It's all right, Granger, Blaise knows. I told him yesterday. Well, technically, two days ago, but still. He knows we're dating. Don't pretend in front of him." Hermione nodded. Blaise still looked slightly grumpy.

"Did Drake—Draco tell you how he got this way yet?" Blaise asked. Hermione shook her head. "Then it's better that you don't. Unless, of course, Drake actually wants to tell you. Do you?" Blaise cocked his head at Draco.

"No, not yet. Maybe a little later…I don't want to risk anything right now…those Malfoy Translocator spells are pretty powerful, and I'm not at full strength. So no, not right now." Blaise nodded understandingly, then started looking Draco over.

"Let me check you over again. Then you will take a shower without help, because I will not do it and I will not allow little Miss Head Girl to do it. That's just to clear off all the blood and everything else. Then you will come out with clean pants on but not your shirt, and I will administer whatever help I can." Blaise continued his checkup on Draco, and nodded.

"Not too bad. Could have been better, but it's okay. Now go take a shower while Granger and I set up the room. And get yourself some clothes that aren't covered in blood." Draco grinned, grabbed some clean clothes, and headed into his bathroom. He shut the door, and Zabini and Hermione heard the lock click shut. A few seconds later, they heard the sound of water running. Hermione turned to Zabini.

"You could have just Scourgified him," she said.

"I could have, but water always improves his mood and makes him calmer. Something to do with the Moon Star Clan being of water, but you don't know about that, do you?"

"Actually, I do. Draco told me a few minutes before you came in. You're of the Sky Wind Clan, right?"

"Yes…and you look like you would be of the Earth Forest Clan if you were part veela. Actually, you look like you are…just a little bit. But that's impossible, you're Muggle-born. But enough of that! We've got to set up this room before Drake finishes with his shower…shouldn't be too bad. First, we've got to clear up this blood. Sourgify Blood!" Zabini yelled, waving his wand. The blood matting the covers and sheets of the bed disappeared, as did all the other blood everywhere else. Then he turned to Hermione.

"Now, what we want to do is set up my potion right in front of his bed. I've got a cauldron of it outside the door; I'm going to bring it in. You keep the door open." Saying so, Zabini turned around and Hermione hurried to follow. Zabini threw open the door, where a silver cauldron stood. Hermione held the door open while Zabini lifted the cauldron, grunting from its weight, and carried it inside. Hermione let the door fall closed. She watched Zabini do whatever it was that he was doing, since it was very interesting indeed. He had place the cauldron three feet away directly in front of the bed, and had then used his wand to draw a perfect silver circle around it. Then he waved his wand again, causing thin swirly silver lines to grow from the circle to all around the foot of Draco's bed. He waved his wand again, and thick wavy silver lines extended from the inside of the circle to crawl up the side of the cauldron and into the cauldron. Pointing his wand straight up, Zabini muttered another spell and a shower of gold sparks flew from his wand and fell into the circle—but not the potion. The he lowered his wand and tucked it away in his robes. The water also stopped running in the bathroom, and two minutes later, Draco emerged, his hair still wet with water, but cleaner than before. But that just threw his injuries into sharper relief. Zabini nodded. Then he turned to Hermione.

"Turn away from the bed for about ten minutes. I am going to ask Drake to take off his clothes, and that is NOT something you need to see. In fact…_Blindasias!_ Good, now you won't be able to see anything until I remove that spell. So sit tight." For Hermione was temporarily blinded by his spell. And she was pretty sure that it was a self-invented spell.

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Please, please, PLEASE review or comment. They're my inspiration for what will come next. Sorry chapter was so short, but I was super busy and I wasn't able to write much.


	12. Chapter 12: Healing and More Truth

A/N: Please, PLEASE review.

**OhhKae:** I always appreciate what you say to me. And, two comments back, about the fact that you don't get that game that they played? Well, when my friend told me at first, I didn't get it either. It was only when he showed me that I really got it. Trust Science Olympians to create one of the simplest games in the world and make it impossible to describe!

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

"_Turn away from the bed for about ten minutes. I am going to ask Drake to take off his clothes, and that is NOT something you need to see. In fact…Blindasias! Good, now you won't be able to see anything until I remove that spell. So sit tight." For Hermione was temporarily blinded by his spell. And she was pretty sure that it was a self-invented spell._

**ACTUAL STORY**

Draco removed his clothes and lay on the bed, closing his eyes. And if Hermione had been able to see, she would have gasped in amazement at what was happening. For the thin swirling silver strands crept up over the bed and crawled over Draco's body. It encased him entirely in silver, with fine detailed designs swirling upon it. It simply looked like he was wearing silver robes now, for everything except his face was covered in the silver threads. And they moved around with delicate grace, though never exposing an inch of skin. Blaise seemed satisfied, and muttered the counterspell to Hermione's blindness.

Hermione felt the blind spell lifting. Her eyes closed, snapped open, and then focused. She turned toward the bed, where everything was a seething silver mass. Even the bed and pillows were covered with the swirly silver stuff. Only Draco's face was a contrast to the silver, and it didn't look like he was breathing. His eyes were closed, and so was his mouth. Hermione walked gingerly over, careful not to tread on the silver threads, and was about to touch Draco's face when her hand was stopped short by Zabini's.

"Don't. Touch. Him. Not now. Not until the silver stops moving. It's carrying the potion to him, and revitalizing him, healing him. If you touch him, it'll stop the process because your touch connects him with someone else and the potion is split between the two of you. And he needs every drop of it. I measured it specifically for his needs, because if he gets too much, he dies. And if he doesn't get enough after getting a dose of it, he'll die. And I _really_ don't want him to die." Hermione nodded, partially too scared to speak. How close she had come to killing Draco! If she had, she would have never, ever forgiven herself. She turned to Zabini.

"How long, Zabini?" she asked.

"About…let's see…five more minutes. At that point, the silver threads on him will turn into clothes, for some reason. Never figured out why, even though I've used the threads about a hundred times. And more half of those times were on Draco. By the way, think you could call me "Blaise" and not "Zabini"? Only after saving your boyfriend from death, I think I deserve that."

"All right…_Blaise_." After that, they sat in silence. It was the longest five minutes of Hermione's life. Slowly, the silver stopped moving and almost invisibly, transformed itself into shimmering, silver cloth. The rest of the silver threads broke away and curled into a tiny ball. Blaise walked over to the glistening ball, picked it up, and stowed it inside his robes. Draoc opened his eyes feebly and sat up. Blaise rushed over to help him.

"Careful, Drake. You were only healed a few seconds ago. Don't try too much. You should be fine by tomorrow morning; I think that potion expelled all the poison, so—"

"Expelled WHAT? How in the world, Draco Abraxas Lucianos Malfoy, do you manage to get yourself poisoned at the World Summit?"

"He didn't want to. And it wasn't by accident, either. Someone did this to him," Blaise replied.

"Who?" Hermione demanded. Blaise looked at Draco. Draco nodded.

"It's fine, I can ward off the Translocator spells for now. But only for about ten minutes, so you'd better explain quick, Blaise." Blaise nodded, and took a deep breath.

"Ever been beaten by your parents?" Blaise asked. Hermione shook her head, wondering why he was asking this. Then her eyes widened.

"No…you don't mean…" Hermione gasped. Blaise nodded.

"Yes. Drake's father did this to him. Actually, this is one of the worst times. But still, it's never anything to joke about. The number of times Drake was almost beaten to death that I personally saw… and I was only there for a handful of them. And usually, he uses poison on Drake too. Personally, my father's never done that to me, though he's whipped me a few times when I did something really bad, like accidentally hitting my father's purebred Abraxan horse with a curse and killing it, but never anything on the scale of Drake's father. He's… uncontrollable when it comes to anger management. I don't really see why Lucius insists on hitting him like this, but he does, and Drake is in pain more often than not at home."

"He told me he'd been beaten almost every day as a child…but I never imagined… never anything on this scale… and not anymore…not after he turned eleven…" Hermione breathed. Tears welled up in her eyes once again. What type of father beat up his son like that?

"When you said he'd almost been beaten to death…you were exaggerating, weren't you?" Hermione asked hopefully. Blaise shook his head.

"Afraid not. Literally, he was coughing up huge amounts of blood, the entire room was covered with the stuff, and his breathing sounded like a baby bird's. He was legally dead about eight times…I think that beats Potter's record of dying multiple times. In fact, I think Potter's only died once. And he got beaten up less when I was around…imagine what it was like _without_ me around." Hermione shuddered. Draco had died _eight times_? That was unimaginable. Draco moaned.

"Hurry, Blaise, finish up, I can't hold off the Translocator spells much longer," he groaned.

"I'm done…you can fill her in on all your beatings later. Right, basic healing's done. Someone's got to stay with you tonight, though. One of us… Granger or me. I probably-"

"I'll stay," Hermione interjected. Blaise looked closely at her. Then he sighed.

"All right, stay with him. But no funny business. He's not strong enough. After he gets well…I don't care what you do in bed." Hermione went scarlet at the meaning in Blaise's words, who smirked and left the room. Draco laughed.

"Ah, Granger, maybe later, but not right now. I know you want to do it with me, but you've gotta wait." Hermione slapped Draco's arm.

"Shut up and get some rest," she snapped, though not harshly. Draco smirked in that annoying way of his, lay down and closed his eyes. Two seconds later he opened them again, the unfathomable silver depths looking up at her.

"Where are you going to sleep?" he asked.

"Er…I guess I'll just conjure something," Hermione replied. Draco laughed.

"Right…I forgot to tell you…I put anti-conjuration spells on my room. Blaise can conjure stuff in here though, because he helped me put the spells on, so basically, he can defy them. But you can't conjure anything in here, and you can't go outside to conjure anything without Blaise getting seriously pissed off at you."

"So tell me again, what am I supposed to do? Other than sleep in a chair?" Hermione questioned.

"Sleep in the bad. Obvious much?" he grinned.

"What about you? If I sleep in the bed, where does that leave you?" Hermione questioned.

"Where do you think? Still in the bed," he smirked.

"OH," Hermione realized with a start. "You don't mean…"

"Yes, Granger, just get in the bed. No funny business tonight, as Blaise said, but I'm slightly tired and I really don't want you to wake up with your neck all stiff. So go on and get in here."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Now hurry up." So Hermione kicked off her shoes and slipped into the covers beside Draco. She breathed in his scent that was moonlight and wind, and flowers with fruit and grass mixed in, sharp and clear, but mulled. She buried her head in his shoulder, inhaling deeply. Wrapping her arms around him, she murmured softly, "Did you know I've never felt this way about anyone else?" Draco's heart beat a little faster, but he did not reply. And soon, he was fast asleep. And just a few minutes after that, so was Hermione.

The next morning dawned bright and clear. Hermione woke up a few minutes after dawn, and opened her eyes. Where was she? This wasn't her suite…OH. She remembered Draco. Turning to look at him, she saw that he was still asleep, an angelic expression on his face, his arms wrapped around her. Suddenly, she heard a clearing of a throat by the doorway. Shifting slightly, she turned towards the sound, to find Blaise standing there, tapping his foot with his arms crossed across his chest. He was scowling heavily.

"I _told_ you no funny business. I _told_ you he wasn't strong enough yet. Why don't you listen!"

"I did. Nothing intimate happened. He just didn't want me to get cold or anything."

"Right, well, leave this room before Potty and Weasel find you." Draco stirred beside Hermione, and his silver eyes blinked softly.

"Ah, good morning, Blaise," Draco greeted. Blaise grinned worriedly. Draco shook Hermione off gently and stood up, hair ruffled.

"Hey Drake, how're you doing today?"

"Much better than yesterday. I don't hurt at all."

"That potion does work wonders."

"Can't thank you enough, Blaise."

"No need, no need… mind if I check over you again?"

"No, just make sure Granger doesn't see me."

"Okay. _Blindasius!_ There, now she can't."

"Great." Blaise removed the silver robes that had been formed from the threads and checked him over.

"This is great! All your scars have disappeared!"

"Even the Dark Mark?"

"Nope, sorry. But I have one too, nothing to be ashamed of…"

"Except when you try to get a job."

"Good point. Neither of us wanted the Mark; it seems unfair that we had to get it."

"Stupid Death Eater fathers."

"My father didn't make me get the Mark. Your father made me."

"My father is a vicious snake. Why'd he have to make you get the Mark?"

"Why're you asking me? Ask your father."

"I would, except—"

"For fear of getting beaten again. Yeah, I know. Sad, when you can't even ask your father a question."

"You have no idea."

"I do. Remember, I've been to your manor."

"I know. I liked it when you were there."

"Yeah, I loved playing Quidditch at your manor. You know I'm an awesome Keeper. And you're not so bad of a Seeker."

"Shut up, I'm better at Quidditch than you'll ever be."

"Or not."

"Hey! I'm still blind here, Blaise," Hermione said, sounding very annoyed.

"Oops. Drake, put your clothes on." There was a rustling of cloth, and then suddenly, Hermione could see again. Draco was fully dressed again in black robes and a dark blue cloak.

"Get dressed, Granger. Go on, get to your room," Blaise ordered. Hermione frowned but walked out—straight into Phoenix.

"Good morning Hermione, I trust you slept well?" Phoenix said.

"Er, not really, I didn't get much sleep last night."

"What were you doing in Draco's room? Blaise went in, but that's normal. But you coming from his room is not normal." Hermione sighed.

"Can you keep a secret?" Hermione asked. Phoenix nodded.

"Absolutely. I keep about a thousand secrets, and I don't reveal any of them unless I am told specifically I can."

"I'll have to trust you. See, Draco and I are... going out, and he got hurt really badly, so I was helping him."

"I knew you had feelings for him that wasn't pure hatred. Glad you found them."

"You won't tell anyone?"

"Not unless you tell me to."

"Thanks."

"No need. But your relationship may not last as long as you think it might." Phoenix turned away toward the balcony without explaining herself, and Hermione continued toward her room, troubled slightly by Phoenix's words. She dressed quickly, and then came back outside. Phoenix was standing on the balcony—again. Hermione sighed. She had never understood why Phoenix stood there so much, just standing there, stock still. So she slipped out onto the balcony, and tapped Phoenix on her shoulder. Phoenix turned to her, her eyes misted over with thoughts of some faraway place.

"You were wondering why I watch the skies every day?" she asked. Hermione nodded.

"It's simply because it's hope. It's hopes and wishes and dreams. You watch the sky and see." Hermione did, feeling a little foolish, but it was just regular sky, blue with streaks of the orange and pink of dawn, struck through with clouds. She shook her head.

"There's nothing special, Phoenix," she said.

"Yes there is," Phoenix insisted. "Look _through_ the sky. Look past the clouds. Look into the colors. _Be_ the sky, the wind, the clouds…be everything. Let everything be you…" Phoenix murmured. And Hermione tried it. And suddenly, the sky was no longer just a ceiling above her head, it _was_ her. It was who she was and who she would be. And it was inexplicably beautiful. Nothing in the colors had changed, but it was suddenly _more_. There was no earthly way to describe it, but it was everything, and everything was it. There were all ethereal things, her hopes and wishes laid out for her to survey. And Hermione understood. She understood what everything was. She understood the sky, nature, all manner of things, but most importantly, she understood herself.

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Please, please, PLEASE review or comment. I will be glad when all this Science Olympiad hype is over…just being a high school coach is exhausting. I'm only in tenth grade! But I pity those ninth grade students who have to coach _and_ compete. And I was once one of them.


	13. Chapter 13: Reunion and Again

A/N: Thanks to OhhKae and Anzlicious for reviewing! I love it when you do!

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

"_You were wondering why I watch the skies every day?" she asked. Hermione nodded._

"_It's simply because it's hope. It's hopes and wishes and dreams. You watch the sky and see." Hermione did, feeling a little foolish, but it was just regular sky, blue with streaks of the orange and pink of dawn, struck through with clouds. She shook her head._

"_There's nothing special, Phoenix," she said._

"_Yes there is," Phoenix insisted. "Look through the sky. Look past the clouds. Look into the colors. Be the sky, the wind, the clouds…be everything. Let everything be you…" Phoenix murmured. And Hermione tried it. And suddenly, the sky was no longer just a ceiling above her head, it was her. It was who she was and who she would be. And it was inexplicably beautiful. Nothing in the colors had changed, but it was suddenly more. There was no earthly way to describe it, but it was everything, and everything was it. There were all ethereal things, her hopes and wishes laid out for her to survey. And Hermione understood. She understood what everything was. She understood the sky, nature, all manner of things, but most importantly, she understood herself._

**ACTUAL STORY**

Hermione turned back to Phoenix, and she knew that her eyes were just as misted as the other girl's.

"You were right. It _was_ something special…do you think I could show Draco?" Hermione asked. Phoenix laughed gently.

"He's already found it. He found it a long time ago. It was one of the only things that helped him live through his father. He's an artist, Hermione, a true artist, a musician, one held dear by the world. He sees this even clearer and brighter than you do, and everything and anything can inspire him. So far, only I can see this as clearly as he does. How do you think we write our songs? He's a child of Everything. And maybe you are too."

"Erm…please explain."

"Hermione, no matter what religion you are, everything was created by something. If you believe in God, then God created everything. If you are Buddhist, then gods created everything. If you are an atheist, then the Big Bang created everything. And everything put together is one thing called Everything, which is the joining of everything and everything itself. Do you understand?"

"No, not really. But kind of. I mean, I kind of see what you mean. Please continue," Hermione replied. Phoenix sighed and tapped her fingers on the rail.

"All right, I'll leave that for you to figure out. So, the next part. Everything is everywhere and is everything, and it is omnipotent in this world. But there's also the opposite of Everything, which is Nothing. And most people spend their lives knowing and seeing neither Nothing nor everything, but something in between. And the thing about it is, Nothing is not dark, but it is not light, either. It simply…is. Everything is Somethings, actually, all the Somethings in the world put together, but Everything is like infinity. And like zero is infinity's twin, so Nothing is Everything's twin. Neither can exist without the other, and neither can be gone while the other still exists. And when you _do _start seeing Everything, it's like nothing you've ever experienced before. It's mysterious, powerful, but also scary. It's all the life, all the joy, everything in the world together. Do you see? Everything is what makes us love life so much, and Nothing is why people fear death so much. No one is actually afraid of dying; they're just afraid of the _nothingness_ that will follow dying. Or they believe it will. It doesn't always. And Everything links us to life. But Nothing is also heaven, hell, Valhalla, the Isles of the Blest, or whatever afterlife you believe in. That's what Nothing is; the time _after_ life. Everything _is_ life, and what surrounds life, and is also carried on to Nothing. Everything that is in Nothing was once part of Everything, and everything that is in Everything was once part of Nothing. And once in a very long while, you get the Children of Everything and Nothing. There are two Children of Everything and two Children of Nothing. There is a boy and girl for each. And Draco is the boy Child of Everything. I am the daughter Child of Nothing. This is why all creatures are so drawn to Draco and me—because I can show them what will come, and Draco is the promise of life. And put together, it's a powerful combination. That's also why we are such good friends, even though I'm in Gryffindor and he's in Slytherin. But Draco has not yet let his true colors as the Boy Child of Everything show. There is a Girl Child; we just do not know who it is yet. And only the Girl Child of Everything can be paired with the Boy Child and vice versa, and sometimes not even then. Children of Everything and Nothing often do not marry, not because people don't want to, but because _they _do not want to. And almost all of the time, even Girl Child and Boy Child pairings don't work. I'm sorry if this is a bit complicated, but you asked me to explain."

"It's fine. I'll just have to…think about it for a while."

"I'm sorry, I know you care about Draco, but if you're not the Girl Child of Everything, you just can't be with him. It's not a law or tradition or anything; it's just simply impossible. I told you all this so you wouldn't fall too hard for Draco. I'm really sorry. Unless you are a Child of Everything, you don't even stand a chance. But…you do give off some of the strong aura that Children of Everything usually give off."

"How do you know for certain that you are a Child of Everything?"

"There's a simple test. Look into the sky and tell me what you see. Because I am a Daughter of Nothing, I can see everything that the Children of Everything can, and vice versa. So no lying. Look into the sky and tell me what you see."

Hermione peered into the post dawn sky, looking through everything, seeing past the outside. And there, she saw two swirling masses, dark as ink and bright as the sun all at the same time, revolving around each other, embracing… and she saw the lives of all flash past… and all that was here was there. And in the center of one, a spark of life glowed. And in the other, a pit of death stood out, not because it glowed, but because it was devoid of all light and color. Yet, the two were one and the same, and they were both also separate. And Hermione knew that she was seeing Everything and Nothing. Then she reeled herself back into her body. She turned to Phoenix again.

"I saw Everything and Nothing, two swirling masses of both light and darkness, swirling around each other, perfect complements of one another, a spark of life in one, a pit of death in the other. And neither was frightening or comforting; they simply _were_. And yet, I felt as if life were calling to me, that death would welcome me, but that life was me," Hermione finished. Phoenix nodded.

"It seems you are meant to be with Draco after all. You are most definitely a Daughter of Everything. Welcome, Sister. Don't tell Draco yet, though. He needs to find out for himself." Hermione nodded. How could Phoenix be so calm? This wasn't a small matter; it changed her life! This was all so sudden. Draco's secrets revealed, and her a Child of Everything…Draco! God, he must be impatient with her by now… she spoke quickly to Phoenix.

"Thanks so much for telling me all this, thanks for letting me find out about myself, but you wouldn't mind if I went now, would you?"

"No, simply do not tell anyone but Draco and one confidant about this. And remember, do not tell Draco you are a Child. He'll find out soon enough. But he needs to see the truth himself, and not from someone else, even you. Blaise probably knows all about Everything and Nothing; he's Draco's confidant. You can go, of course. I want to watch the sky a little longer. Hermione nodded and went back inside, where Draco was waiting for her. He smiled gently. Then his smile faltered.

"Hello, Granger. I need to tell you something…before you fall too fast for me. I'm not very sure we can go out anymore…seeing you speak with Phoenix kind of reminded me…there's something about me that…how do I explain…"

"That you are a Child of Everything?" Hermione laughed. Draco looked startled.

"How did you know?"

"Phoenix just filled me in… on all the stuff about soul mates and children of Everything and Nothing as well, so I know why you would say that we shouldn't be together. However, I beg to differ. There is a way." Draco shook his head.

"No, no Hermione, you see, only the Girl Child of Everything could ever even have a chance to be paired with me…" his voice faltered. "No…you're not saying…_ you're_ the Girl Child of Everything?"

"Very good. Phoenix told me not to tell you, that you needed to find out for yourself, but you guessed it!" Draco's face broke out into a huge smile.

"Oh, that's great! Now I don't need to break up with you…and you're also not just a Mudblood anymore either! Father can't beat me for liking a Child of Everything!" Hermione winced at his words.

"Please, Draco, remember that I don't especially like hearing about your beatings." Draco nodded.

"Right, and about Everything and Nothing…it's not really that important. It's just life and death. Don't worry about it. Forget about it. It's there, it'll be there, but you can just live like it isn't. Don't listen to Phoenix go on too much; she'll have you thinking that Everything and Nothing are the most important things in the world. So forget about it. If you think about it too much, it'll give you a headache."

"Thanks. Now, to keep up our act…pretend we're fighting."

"My pleasure."

"Yeah right." Hermione looked at Draco in what she hoped was a look of pure frustration, then marched to the couches and began reading another one of the Artemis Fowl books. Phoenix looked back at her and grinned. Hermione smiled wanly.

Two hours later, they headed down to breakfast in almost the exact same fashion as the day before, with Robert banging on doors and talking nonstop. The difference was, this time, they met Pierre's group on the way and they merged the two groups. And they also ate together, Robert and Pierre laughing, joking, and hitting each other through it all. They called it "male bonding". Hermione privately wondered if they were insane. In all her years with Harry and Ron, they had never hit each other every five seconds. They had all finished breakfast, but Robert and Pierre did not let them get up. A girl from Beauxbatons tried to leave, only to be jerked rudely back down by Robert. Ginny stifled a giggle at that. Finally, Dr. Matthews stood up and clapped his hands.

"I hope that your breakfast was excellent! Now, I know that some of you are wondering why you are not being allowed to leave. The answer is, our Ministers and Presidents of the magical world are now here, and I would like to let you meet them! And please, save your applause till the end.

"First, we have President Howard Goldstein of North America! And…President Juan Roissier of South America! The Bulgarian Prime Minister, Ikori Carciroff! The Australian Prime Minister, Kegan Jones! The Asian Prime Minister, Yuzhi Wang! And finally, the British and European Prime Minister, Percy Weasley!" The representative groups roared with applause. Percy's shock of red hair stood out against all the other ministers. But Dr. Matthews wasn't finished yet.

"Of course, there are others here too…our best dragon catcher in a good few years, Charlie Weasley! The best Quidditch player in the world… Viktor Krum! Our accomplished part veela Healer, Fleur Delacour! Our best Curse Breaker working for Gringotts and currently stationed in Egypt but here now, Bill Weasley! Our best Aurors, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks! Our cross-species missionary, Remus Lupin! Our representatives of those who were once from the Dark Side, Lucius Malfoy and Charles Zabini! And of course, who could forget our best jokers, laughers, and who themselves have had to have a few laws created, Fred and George Weasley!" Everyone clapped and cheered for them too, though the representatives from the Dark Side caused murmurings. Draco had stiffened so that he seemed like a stick. His eyes were filled with horror. Hermione felt sorry for him, but was swept away when the Weasleys on the stage came down to their table.

"Ron! Ginny! Harry! Hermione! It's so good to see you again!" Bill yelled. Percy saluted them stiffly at first, then laughed and hugged them all. Charlie walked over to Harry and began talking at top speed about his adventures in Romania, until he was interrupted by the twins, who said together, "Hey Harry! Haven't seen you in a long time!"

"How's Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes going?" Harry asked, laughing.

"It's fine—"Fred said.

"Business is booming—" George said.

"George found a girlfriend—"

"Shut up, Fred. There are people here."

"Oh yeah, nearly forgot. You'd never guess—"

"—we're only surrounded by five hundred people—"

"—who are all staring at us like we're insane—"

"—only we're not, we're family—"

"-and friends, or is it the presence-"

"—of the famous Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, and the Prime Minister?"

"Of course, there's us—"

"STOP!" Harry yelled. "My head hurts when you do that." Fred and George only grinned. Hermione chuckled, drawing Fred and George's attention.

"Hey Hermione!" they called together.

"Does us speaking in turns—" Fred said.

"—give you a headache—" George said.

"—like it does other people—"

"—or confuse you—"

"—at all?"

"Not really. I can still understand what you're saying…although how you manage to read each others' minds, I can't figure out." At this point, Phoenix cleared her throat.

"Ahem. Do you know how many people are staring at us?" she asked.

"Hello, Phoenix! I've heard so much about you!" Bill said.

"Like?"

"You're a Child of either Everything or Nothing, aren't you?"

"Yes… and I'm guessing you know this because you are a Curse Breaker?"

"Correct! You are very intuitional."

"No, just well educated."

"That too." Hermione noticed then that Mellyssa was watching them with her mouth open, pointing at each one of them. So Hermione turned to her and asked, "Yes?"

"How many of them are there?" Mellyssa asked faintly.

"There are seven here, and they're all siblings, they've got about twenty cousins, fifteen aunts, fifteen uncles, four grandparents, and that's only direct family."

"Ohh…that's a lot…are there any more siblings that aren't here?"

"No, this is it for the sibling count. The oldest, which is Bill, is somewhere around thirty one, and the youngest and the only girl, Ginny, is sixteen. A bit of an age difference."

"Are they all this red- haired?"

"Yes."

"And are they all this insane?"

"Sadly, yes," Hermione replied. Mellyssa laughed softly. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Draco being dragged away by his father. It was the first time she'd seen Lucius' face, and it personally scared her. So she secretly took Harry's Invisibility Cloak, which had slipped out from beneath his robes (he had never gone anywhere without it since the war).

"Can I leave?" she murmured to Robert, who was watching the Weasleys and Harry open mouthed. He nodded slowly, so she hurried out of the hall after Draco and his father, pulling Harry's Invisibility Cloak over her as she went. They went into an empty stone-floored room, Draco literally being dragged by his ear. She slipped in soundlessly behind them, seconds before Lucius closed the door and charmed it and the room. Silencing spells, anti-Alohomora spells… the whole package. He sent a ball of green light hovering above them, just enough so that he could see. Then he turned to Draco.

"Take your shirt off, son." Draco unwillingly slipped off his robes and pulled off his shirt. Lucius walked around him.

"Tsk, tsk, healed so soon, son? I had hoped that they would last longer… to teach you a lesson…but as that hope is apparently gone, I shall have to teach you again." Draco whimpered slightly, then shut himself up, hoping his father hadn't heard. But there was no such luck, as Lucius growled his displeasure.

"Sniveling at a little bit of pain? Then I'll show you REAL pain! CRUCIO!" he yelled. Draco writhed on the ground, screaming. Hermione watched in transfixed horror. She wanted to move, but she couldn't, as she watched Draco being tortured by his father. Suddenly, something flicked across Draco's back and a loud slapping sound was heard, and a bloody gash opened up. And she saw that in Lucius' hand was a black whip, hissing as green smoke rose slightly from it. Draco screamed again, as the Cruciatus Curse hadn't been lifted and his father's whip was coming down on his back again and again. He contorted in pain, gasping. Lucius pushed him flat on his back, not caring about the wounds on his back, but shoving the end of his diamond encrusted staff hard into Draco's chest. Draco gasped, and gurgled as blood came out of his mouth. Hermione wanted to scream for Draco's sake, but she seemed to have lost all capability to move. Why hadn't anyone else heard? Then she remembered that Lucius had cast all manner of spells around the room. Meanwhile, Lucius was whacking Draco again and again in the ribs with his staff. Several sharp cracks echoed in the room. Draco's eyes, which glowed strangely, were wild with pain and fear. And then as Lucius bodily hit him hard enough with his staff to fling him across the room, the hit the wall resoundingly, with a few more cracks, and his eyes became tiny dots in pain. This was too much for Hermione. She snapped out of her trance and yelled, "_Petrificus Totalus_!" at Lucius, who was suddenly in a full body bind. Throwing off the invisibility cloak onto the floor, which was covered in Draco's blood, she ran over to Draco. His eyes were trying to focus, but failed. He whispered, "I'll be in heaven, Mother. I'll wait for you." And then his eyes rolled back in his head.

Draco thrashed around on the ground, his father's whip landing again and again on his back. Pain shot through him like an arrow, as his ribs broke from the force of his father's staff. Then he was flung across the room, and hitting the wall, his eyes contracted in pain. His vision was very blurry now. But distantly, he heard a shout of "_Petrificus Totalus_!" and footsteps running toward him. Suddenly, a face appeared above his. He couldn't tell who it was, but it had to be his mother…after all, who else would even care at all for him? So he tried to say something, because he knew that death, that Nothing, was coming for him. And what he said was, "I'll be in heaven, Mother. I'll wait for you." And then blackness engulfed him.

Hermione lifted Draco's unconscious body, which was lighter than she expected, but still heavy enough. There came a pounding on the door, so Hermione pushed Draco into the darkest corner of the room and opened the door. Blaise stood there, worry written upon every contour of his face. Then he saw Hermione and he broke out into a sly smile.

"What are you and Drake up to?" he asked. Hermione shook her head.

"Listen, have you got Floo powder?"

"Yes, why?"

"Come inside, I'll show you." Confused, Blaise shrugged and entered. Hermione flashed her wand so that a bright ball of white light lit up the room. There was Lucius, petrified. Blaise's expression changed from smug to horrified. He pointed his wand at Lucius and muttered quietly, "_Blindasius!_" Lucius' eyes instantly turned slightly milky, and then Blaise pointed his wand again and said, "_Deafalitos!_" and apparently, Lucius became deaf as well. Blaise stowed his wand back into his robes and turned to Hermione.

"Where's Drake?" he asked. Hermione pointed to Draco's form in the corner of the room, blood still flowing freely from his wounds. Blaise looked panicked.

"We've got to stop the bleeding _now!_ And you've got to help me! I can't do it by myself."

"Why not?"

"He's PART VEELA! Any idea how hard it is for those creatures to be subject to magic cast by someone else? Help. Me." Hermione nodded, and waved her wand in unison with Blaise's. As the bleeding was slowly stopped, she couldn't help but wonder if Draco would ever wake from his sleep.

A/N: Don't worry, Draco will not die, but Hermione and Blaise don't know that, so.

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Please, please, PLEASE review or comment. Science Olympiad Regional is next week, and everyone is in total hype mode. Therefore, I haven't updated in so long. Very sorry.


	14. Chapter 14: Mysteries

A/N: Thanks to OhhKae and Anzlicious for reviewing! I love it when you do!

A/N 2: I'm very sorry it took so long to upload this chapter; Science Olympiad State is coming up now, and everyone is even _more_ hyped up. AAAAHHH! My friend insists that I tutor him on all his events. That takes forever.

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

"_Where's Drake?" he asked. Hermione pointed to Draco's form in the corner of the room, blood still flowing freely from his wounds. Blaise looked panicked._

"_We've got to stop the bleeding now! And you've got to help me! I can't do it by myself."_

"_Why not?"_

"_He's PART VEELA! Any idea how hard it is for those creatures to be subject to magic cast by someone else? Help. Me." Hermione nodded, and waved her wand in unison with Blaise's. As the bleeding was slowly stopped, she couldn't help but wonder if Draco would ever wake from his sleep._

**ACTUAL STORY**

Blaise cleaned the room free of blood with one sweep of his wand. He picked up Draco's robes and shirt and handed them to Hermione, who received them, surprised but quite willingly. Then he knocked Lucius out, and then made sure Lucius could see and hear again once he woke up. Then he pointed his wand to a corner of the room, yelled "_Incendio!_", and threw Floo powder into the burst of flames. He picked up Draco's body, shoved some powder into Hermione's hand, and stepped into the flames, crying, "Drake's bedroom, Malfoy Manor!" and spun away. The flames returned to a crackling orange, and Hermione threw her handful of powder into the fire. It burst into emerald flames again, and she stepped in, saying, "Draco's bedroom, Malfoy Manor." The fire spun her away to a brightly lit bedroom, where Blaise had already set Draco on the bed and was poring over him. He looked up as Hermione stepped out of the fireplace.

"Make him start bleeding again. He's poisoned, and if it doesn't get out of his bloodstream, he will die. I'll call his mother…if she can get up…" and saying so, he rushed from the room. Hermione blinked, confused, but set down Draco's robes and waved her wand over Draco, and blood tinged with silver and sickly green began pouring out of him again.

Blaise ran as fast as he could through the labyrinth that the Malfoys called a house. He stopped outside Narcissa's room and entered slowly. The light was on, which was good, and saw Draco's mother sitting in bed reading. He spoke slowly, unsurely.

"Er…Mrs. Malfoy?" Narcissa looked up from her book.

"Oh, hello, Blaise, dear. You should have told me you were dropping in."

"Are you better?"

"Yes, I've been recovering very quickly since Lucius left, for some reason."

"Well, can you walk?"

"Yes. I have almost made a full recovery."

"So you can take care of Drake-Draco if he's on the brink of death?"

"What?" Narcissa almost leapt up from bed. "What happened to my son?"

"Why don't I take you to his room? I just Flooed us here, and maybe you would understand better if you saw him."

"Yes, of course, immediately." Narcissa slipped on some shoes and followed Blaise. "And while we're going there, tell me what happened." Blaise paused for a few seconds, then spoke up.

"A beating by his father."

"Again?"

"Yes, but this time, it's really, really bad…his girlfriend is here too, by the way."

"My baby's got an actual girlfriend now? Is it that pureblood disgrace, Pansy Parkinson?"

"No."

"Good. Anyone but her."

"Right…but now is not the time to worry about girlfriends. Drake—Draco is wounded, and we need to help him."

"Oh, my poor baby… how badly hurt is he?"

"Really, really badly. He was knocked out."

"But that never happens! It's never happened even once before!"

"I know. That's why I'm so worried."

"Didn't Lucius beat Draco just the day before yesterday?"

"Yes."

"How bad was it that time?"

"Really bad, again. He'd been completely healed for about four hours (A/N: Draco wasn't completely healed until about one hour before he woke up) before Lucius beat him again. And now he's bleeding buckets." By now, they had reached Draco's room, trepidation slowing their steps.

Narcissa opened the door cautiously and peered in. A brown haired girl was bent over her son, doing something. She walked silently onto the other side of the bed, and sucked in a slow breath. Draco's back was completely covered in whip lashes, all of which were bleeding profusely, sickly green liquid pouring out with the blood. There were obvious signs of the Cruciatus Curse on his body, and blood trickled slowly out of his mouth. The brown haired girl looked up from Draco.

"Hello, um… Mrs. Malfoy," she said.

"Hello, dear, what's your name?"

"Hermione. Hermione Granger," the girl replied. Narcissa was surprised, but thoughtful. How many times had she heard Draco complain about "Mudblood Granger"? And how many times had Lucius beaten him for it? Was this the same one? She shook it off. She would worry about that later. For right now, her priority was her son.

Hermione saw the look of surprise flit across Mrs. Malfoy's face when she told her her name. She guessed that Draco hadn't spoken very kindly of her when he was with his parents. Mrs. Malfoy looked like a female version of Draco: pale, blond, and tall with silvery eyes. And she was obviously very worried about her son. Hermione stood back against the door with Blaise so that Mrs. Malfoy could be somewhat alone with her son, since the room was gargantuan and the door was thirty feet away. Mrs. Malfoy passed her long, delicate fingers gently against Draco's wounds, and gently turned him around. His ribs were jutting out, a few had broken the surface, and his foot was twisted the wrong way. Mrs. Malfoy leaned over him and stroked Draco's cheek worriedly, her other hand probing his chest. Suddenly, Draco stirred feebly, his eyes fluttering gently open. Then tears began to flow from his eyes.

Draco woke with his body aching horribly. He had to be dead. But if he was dead, why did it hurt so much? Maybe it was a test he had to pass…whatever he was lying on felt wonderfully soft…perhaps it was a cloud. He opened his eyes and looked up into the face of his mother. Tears came to his eyes. Had Father done her in as well? Because of him? He'd have to find out…

"Mother, are you dead too? Did Father kill you?" he asked. Mother shook her head.

"No, darling, I'm not dead. And neither are you."

"But I have to be…I can't still be alive. Oh, I know! You _are_ still alive, it's just your spirit to help me move on to the afterlife…thanks, Mother. You always did care for me."

"Oh, Draco. If only you could see yourself now…"

"Why? Is the Dark Mark gone? Am I healed now? It doesn't feel like it, though…"

"Draco…darling…you're not dead. Please believe me." Draco tried to touch his mother's face, but couldn't lift his hand.

"Mother, don't lie to comfort me. I know I'm dead, but I promised you I'd wait for you in heaven. I will, Mother, I promise. Don't cry, Mother, please." For tears had started rolling down Narcissa's cheeks as she watched her son.

"I'll be in a better place soon, don't worry. Oh, and by the way, Mother…I'm dating a girl named Hermione Granger. Could you please tell her that I really loved her? I'm afraid that I won't ever see her again, even in heaven, because she might not believe in it. Please, Mother, tell her I love her."

"I will, son, I promise," Narcissa replied, clasping her hand around Draco's. "Don't go away now…let me be with you for just a little longer."

"I'm already dead, remember? If it's possible, I promise I'll visit you in dreams."

"Draco, darling…"

"I'll be fine, Mother."

"Yes, you will, dearest. And always remember: Haud res quatenus absentis vos es—"

"Haud res qua vos es—"

"Vos mos usquequaque exsisto in meus pectus pectoris—"

"Vos es usquequaque exsisto me."

"Vestri rideo risi risum est meus lullaby—"

"Vestri smile est meus tripudium—"

"Quod vos es in meus sententia usquequaque," Narcissa finished. Draco smiled lightly. (A/N: Translation will be in the next chapter as part of the story. It's Latin, by the way.)

"I loved that saying. I always did."

"I know. And I love it too. Can you keep awake for a little longer?"

"I'm so tired, Mother…could you let me sleep? Remember to tell Hermione…" he whispered. Waves of fatigue washed over him, and he closed his eyes and tried to still his breathing, so that his ribs wouldn't ache so much. Then he floated off into another world.

Narcissa straightened up, tears still streaming down her face. She turned to Hermione and beckoned for her to come to the bedside, which Hermione did.

"Did you hear anything he said?" she asked. Hermione shook her head.

"I was too far away, and he spoke too quietly."

"Well, then, you should know that he said he loved you."

"He did?" Hermione whispered in shock.

"Yes, he did."

"What did he say exactly?"

"He said, '. Oh, and by the way, Mother…I'm dating a girl named Hermione Granger. Could you please tell her that I really loved her? I'm afraid that I won't ever see her again, even in heaven, because she might not believe in it. Please, Mother, tell her I love her.' And then the last words he said were 'Remember to tell Hermione, Mother.' And then he fell asleep."

"He called me Hermione?"

"Yes."

"That's the first time…ever. He's never called me Hermione…before sixth year, it was Mudblood, and after we started dating, it was Granger."

"How long have you been dating him?"

"About five months."

"He's never dated anyone that long before…you're a special girl, Hermione."

"Thank you."

"And if—no, _when_- he gets better, you had better not break his heart. He loves you completely and utterly, but don't take advantage of that. He's been through too much already without you hurting him."

"I won't. I won't ever let anything hurt him if it's in my capability to stop." _But I let his father beat him today…and I was there the whole time…I could have stopped Mr. Malfoy any time I wanted to…and yet I let him beat Draco to a pulp…_

"Don't fail me, Hermione. He gave you his heart with those words; make sure you deserve it."

"I will, Mrs. Malfoy."

"I will take care of him for now…you two go back to the Summit and make up some story about where you were and why Draco's not there. Come see him as often as you like, but he'll probably stay here for a few days."

"He needs to be back in four days, though. He's a representative of Hogwarts, so he can't miss out on the actual meetings," Hermione warned. Narcissa nodded.

"Go. Your friends will be wondering where you are. Floo yourself to the room where you found Draco. If I know Lucius, he'll have put all kinds of enchantments on that room so he wouldn't be disturbed while he was abusing Draco." Blaise and Hermione both nodded, and Narcissa handed each of them some Floo powder and pointed her wand at the fireplace at the other end of the room. It burst into flames and spread heat throughout the room. This time, Hermione went first.

"Empty room where Lucius beat up Draco, the Summit!" she cried, and the flames spun her away to the now-empty chamber. Lucius had obviously woken and gone away. She stepped out of the fireplace and moved aside so that Blaise wouldn't run into her when he Flooed out. Which he did, thirty seconds later. He stumbled into her blindly as he got out of the fire.

"All right, our story…"

"I was reading and forgot about time."

"I was hanging out with Drake."

"Draco went off to take a walk."

"But how do we explain his nonpresence for the next four days?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Right. I'm actually worried about Drake, though."

"You should be."

"Right…let's go now." Hermione picked up Harry's invisibility cloak from where she had thrown it on the ground, and they walked out of the chamber, and Blaise went one way and Hermione the other, toward the dining hall. She couldn't stop thinking about Draco, and what he had said, that he loved her. Did he really? She hoped he did. Because she knew that she truly did love him too. And she would never forget what it was like when his father was beating and whipping him mercilessly. Suddenly, she heard loud footsteps behind her. She turned around to see Ron running up to her. He skidded to a stop a few feet away from her, paused to catch his breath, and then started ranting.

"Where were you? We were all so worried, and then Zabini and Malfoy were gone too… d'you know where they are? Only the Greengrasses are freaking out about them, and everyone else was freaking out about you. Phoenix was nearly frantic, she kept muttering about new girl child and boy child, if nothing takes everything or something like that. Really confusing, but she was nearly strangling everyone. Harry's out of his mind with worry, and Ginny is running around this place like there's no tomorrow, searching for either you or Zabini, can't tell, she keeps screaming both your names. And all the other Weasleys are loose, and you know what loose Wealeys are like. And then, Kingsley, Tonks, Lupin, Krum, and Fleur were casting spells everywhere, trying to figure out where the three of you went. Krum seemed especially adamant about finding you…maybe he hasn't gotten over you yet…_don't_ attack me for that. Zabini's dad is completely wigging out because his son disappeared, and is literally gone without a trace. And even he was worried about you. Strange thing, though, Malfoy's dad didn't seem to be anywhere. The one time we did see him, he was laughing his head off at something. It scared me. I thought maybe you had been taken by him or something!"

"Sorry, I was reading, and I forgot the time."

"Well, at least you're okay. I don't care so much about Zabini and Malfoy, though. They could die for all I care." Hermione winced at his words, because one of those two actually _were_ dying. Or possibly dying. Ron looked at her closely.

"Hermione, are you okay? You look…worried."

"I'm fine. Why would I be worried?"

"Hmm… I actually don't know. Dunno what I was thinking. Good thing we haven't started sightseeing yet. Dr. Matthews said that we should have about two hours to learn about the Prime Ministers and all the other people, and of course, most of the people who were on the stage today we already knew, and the others, you probably know everything there is to know about them."

"Phoenix could tell you everything about that Asian Prime Minister. She's Chinese, remember."

"Yeah, yeah, we should get back up to our suite now, come on, let's go; I've got some Floo powder."

"Right." And for the third time that day, Hermione used Floo powder to travel.

**Meanwhile at Malfoy Manor…**

Lucius Malfoy stormed into Draco Malfoy's bedroom, where his wife was bent over a limp figure on the bed. Lucius knew without asking that this was Draco. After seeing Narcissa gone from her room, he had come here immediately, knowing that this was the most likely place to be. He rudely pulled Narcissa up away from Draco, who, he noted with satisfaction, was bleeding copiously. He pulled her out into the hall, shut Draco's bedroom's door, and let go of her. Narcissa looked at him disbelievingly.

"Lucius, have you any idea what you've done?"

"Taught our son a lesson, that's what I've done."

"No, you didn't teach him anything. You simply abused him and hurt him."

"He was always your weakness. Without him, you would be so much stronger."

"I'm strong with him."

"You are not. He deserved everything that came to him."

"Not everything. Some things, like his girlfriend and a caring best friend, he deserved. Others, like your beatings of him, he never did deserve."

"So he's got a girlfriend now, does he?"

"Yes, and she cares for him immensely, unlike you. You hardly care that you hurt him so badly he was knocked out."

"He's never knocked out after a beating."

"He was this time! Think about what you did, Lucius."

"I taught him a lesson, to not fear pain."

"No, you made it worse. He could be dead if his friends hadn't brought him here."

"Ah, yes, his friends. The ones that temporarily blinded and deafened me, and knocked me out, just so I wouldn't see what they were doing with _my_ son."

"Your son that you don't treat like a son. And they did the right thing."

"I treat him like he should be treated, Narcissa."

"Lucius, he thinks he's dead! He thinks you've beaten him to death, that you might do the same to me! Tell me that's normal!"

"It's not. But he'll find out soon enough that he's alive. This is very good for him. Do you know what I did tonight?"

"Yes. You very nearly killed my son."

"_Your_ son? _Yours? _He's as much my son as heis yours! And I have a right to spank some sense into him!"

"You didn't spank him, Lucius! You. Almost. KILLED HIM!" The last two words were spit out with such fury that even the walls seemed to cower.

"He'll recover."

"Right now, there's no guarantee he'll even survive. Have you even seen him?"

"No. I'll see him later. Right now, I'm going back to the Summit. And he had better be there for the official meetings." With that, Lucius stalked off. Narcissa trembled in anger and waltzed back into Draco's bedroom, where she sat next to Draco again, probing his wounds and cleaning them. And for the second time that day, he jerked into consciousness.

Draco woke up again, but this time, he didn't feel any pain. Actually, he didn't feel much of anything. Perhaps that was the drawback of being dead. He could see his mother's face above him…probably an angel, taking on the guise of his mother to comfort him or something. He smiled. Angels always did know what was best. He was calmest in the presence of his mother. The angel that looked like his mother looked down on him.

"Thanks, angel, for doing that. It does help, waking up to my mother."

"Draco, you're awake."

"Yes, and I don't feel any pain. That's good, really good. How do you manage to make yourself look like my mother?"

"Draco, I _am_ your mother."

"Oh right, I forgot, my mother can spirit travel. So if you are my mother, would you know who I love?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Mother! You didn't have to come. Come on, you can leave me alone now, I'll be fine, probably even better off than you. I'll wait. I'll always be here until you come. You can't keep doling on me…live your life."

"Draco, you're not dead."

"Mother, why do you persist in trying to tell me that? I know I'm dead. I accept it. Just because I'm a Child of Everything doesn't mean I'm so drawn to life that without it, I'm not myself. Don't worry. Besides, I'm alive in spirit."

"Draco, darling, I miss you."

"Don't, Mother. I'll see you in your dreams. I told you that I would find your dreams and see them, if at all possible."

"Your father hurt you so badly…"

"Don't blame him, Mother. I know he thought he was doing the right thing. I don't hate him, even if he did kill me. All's forgiven."

"Draco, you have such a good heart. Not many can forgive someone who did that to them."

"That's why I'm a Child—because I can forgive. You can leave, Mother, I'll be fine. I miss you too, Mother, but you can't keep doing this. I'm tired again…why am I so tired? Let me sleep, Mother…I'll see you in your dreams soon enough."

"Good night, my son."

"Thank you." The words were barely a whisper as Draco sighed and went back to sleep. Narcissa was crying again. Her son, her only son, believed himself to be dead, believed that his father killed him, and he was trying to comfort her. She placed her hand on his chest to monitor his heartbeat, and watched his sleeping, smiling, angelic face.

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Please review or comment. I'm thinking about putting Draco through three more ordeals…one mental, one physical, one both, and they all relate to the gist of the rest of the story.


	15. Chapter 15: Memories

A/N: Thanks to OhhKae and Anzlicious for reviewing! They are truly most of my inspiration.

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

"_Draco, darling, I miss you."_

"_Don't, Mother. I'll see you in your dreams. I told you that I would find your dreams and see them, if at all possible."_

"_Your father hurt you so badly…"_

"_Don't blame him, Mother. I know he thought he was doing the right thing. I don't hate him, even if he did kill me. All's forgiven."_

"_Draco, you have such a good heart. Not many can forgive someone who did that to them."_

"_That's why I'm a Child—because I can forgive. You can leave, Mother, I'll be fine. I miss you too, Mother, but you can't keep doing this. I'm tired again…why am I so tired? Let me sleep, Mother…I'll see you in your dreams soon enough."_

"_Good night, my son."_

"_Thank you." The words were barely a whisper as Draco sighed and went back to sleep. Narcissa was crying again. Her son, her only son, believed himself to be dead, believed that his father killed him, and he was trying to comfort her. She placed her hand on his chest to monitor his heartbeat, and watched his sleeping, smiling, angelic face._

**ACTUAL STORY**

**Back at the Summit**

Hermione paced around and around her room, worrying, worrying. Suddenly, Ginny burst into her room. She had left Harry's invisibility cloak on Harry's bed, and was now worrying wholeheartedly about Draco

"WHERE WERE YOU? We were all so worried! And we can't find Draco anywhere…d'you know where he is?"

"Yes," Hermione mumbled.

"Where is he?"

"At Malfoy Manor."

"Why's he there?"

"Should I tell you?"

"YES!"

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Definitely."

"He's hurt badly. Like, about to die badly."

"This is the SUMMIT! It's got some of the best protection in the world! How on earth did he manage to hurt himself that badly?"

"His father beat him up."

"To death?"

"Not quite. But nearly, very nearly."

"No wonder you're worried! Is that were Blaise went too?"

"Yes."

"How long is Draco going to be gone?"

"A couple of days."

"The others will be freaking out, at that point. Especially the Greengrasses."

"Don't I know it."

"Wow, Hermione, you find one person you actually care about, and he's about to die."

"I know. Weird."

"But you'll find someone else, even if he _does _die."

"No, I won't. Slightly impossible there."

'Why?"

"Keep another secret, will you?"

"Another one? Fine. As long as it won't hurt anyone."

"Nobody."

So Hermione explained all about the Everything and Nothing, and their Children and everything else that Phoenix had told her earlier that morning, while Ginny listened, fascinated and completely silent, which was very, very rare. Finally, she snapped out of her reverie.

"Wow…either you are with Draco or you aren't with anyone…sad choices."

"Not really. I really care about Draco, so I can choose to be with him."

"But if he dies…"

"Not good."

The door banged open again, and Phoenix stood there, worry etched upon every contour of her face, arms crossed on her chest, one toe tapping the ground. She stormed in and turned accusingly to Hermione.

"Why, WHY did you not tell me Draco was hurt? You know I have a pet phoenix; you know that I'm a Child of Nothing, you KNOW that I could help him! You realize, that if you'd told me, I could have used phoenix tears on him? I still can, but do you know how much time you've wasted? And if _this_ Child of Everything dies…suffice it to say it will be very, very bad. I KNOW that Lucius beats Draco, but what I _don't_ know is WHEN. Next time, I want you to TELL ME." Hermione nodded, slightly frightened by this Phoenix, so unlike the calm, laughing Phoenix that was usually present.

"Tell Blaise we're going back to Malfoy Manor for a little bit. We have exactly fifty five minutes, starting now, before sightseeing. Ginny, you _will _stay here and make up some excuse for us. Hermione, go get Blaise _now_. I'm calling Icefire, and then we'll use Floo powder to leave from Hermione's bedroom." They all nodded, as Hermione rushed away to find Blaise, Phoenix let out a beautiful, warbling cry that made the heart ache, and Icefire appeared in a golden flash.

Two minutes later, Ginny, Hermione, Blaise, and Phoenix with Icefire were all gathered in Hermione's bedroom. Blaise took out the pouch of Floo powder that he always kept with him, took a handful, and passed it to Hermione, who passed it to Phoenix. Then Blaise gave some to Hermione, took some for himself, and then stowed the pouch away. He threw his handful into the flames, which roared emerald, and stepped into it, yelling, "Drake's bedroom, Malfoy Manor!" and was swept away. Hermione went next, and then Phoenix followed. The familiar warm, spinning sensation overtook her, and she spun away, her robes flapping in the warm breeze. Then she was deposited into Draco's bedroom, where Narcissa was bent over her son, prodding some of the wounds with her wand. She looked up at the sudden arrival of three people, and seeing who it was, she smiled. Phoenix walked immediately to the bedside, where a bedside table sat with a few bottles on it.

"Hello, Blaise, hello, Hermione. Oh, Phoenix! I haven't seen you in months!"

"I haven't been to your manor in months, either," Phoenix replied wryly. "I brought my phoenix this time. Maybe she could help."

"Of course, of course."

"Right…" Phoenix pulled out an empty flask from her robes, unscrewed the top, and set it on the bedside table. Then she let Icefire hop off her shoulder and observe Draco, at which point, tears began dripping from Icefire's eyes, and she hopped to the empty flask and let the tears drip in there. When the flask was full, the stream of tears subsided, and Icefire hopped off the table bedside Draco's head. Phoenix screwed the cap back on the flask and inspected it. Then, using her wand, she melted a tiny hole into the cap. Turning Draco onto his stomach, she poured a small stream of tears into each wound, and when she was done, the flask was still mostly full. Then, thick green liquid began oozing out of the wounds—the poison. Draco shuddered, unconscious though he was, as it left his system. Finally, the green liquid seemed to run out, and the poison was completely expelled. Phoenix poured more tears onto Draco's back, and the wounds began to stitch up, mending healing…until all there was were white scars, and a few moments later, nothing at all. Just smooth, unmarked skin that was as good as new. By now, the flask was half gone, but Phoenix wasn't done yet. Turing Draco around again, Phoenix poured a few more tears into his mouth, and ran her fingers down his throat to help him swallow. And as they watched, Draco's ribs began returning to their natural place, they healed, and the skin closed again. Bruises faded to yellow, and then disappeared completely. His foot that was twisted the wrong way clicked back to where it was supposed to be, and the bone fused back together. Phoenix poured just a few more tears into his mouth, and let them do their work. Then she stepped back.

"That's about all I can do. I hope it's enough."

"He's got a better chance now than he did before," Blaise said grimly. Hermione nodded. Then she turned to Narcissa.

"Did he wake up again?" Hermione asked. Narcissa nodded.

"He did…but he still thinks he's dead."

"He thinks he's dead? You didn't tell me _that_," Phoenix said pointedly to Hermione.

"I didn't know. Mrs. Malfoy didn't tell me last time, and I was too far away to hear him talk the one time he was awake…" she replied. Narcissa nodded.

"He does. And he thinks Lucius killed him. Nothing I say can sway him…he thought I was an angel dressing up as his mother at first."

"Do you think you could give us the memories? It would help us a lot…" Phoenix said. Narcissa hesitated, then nodded. She pressed her wand to her temple, and drew out a silvery substance, placing it in a small flask. Then she did it again.

"Those are memories of the two times he woke up. I hope it will help," Narcissa said, handing the two bottles of memory to Phoenix. Phoenix nodded.

"It most definitely will." Then Narcissa put her wand to her temple once again and drew out another memory.

"A little something extra to help you see what Draco's life is like," she said, handing the bottle to Phoenix. "We have a Pensieve here…I will call a house elf to show you the way to the laboratory. Phoenix and Blaise should know the way, though…"

"We'll show Hermione. No need to drag house elves into this," Blaise replied. Narcissa nodded.

"Then go, and I hope you find what you need in those memories." Phoenix bowed her head briefly and swept out of the room. Blaise followed, and Hermione hurried after them.

Phoenix led them down, down, down at least ten floors. Hermione could not imagine how large this manor must be…it had to be even bigger than Hogwarts. If you got lost here, how long would it take for you to find your way out? A day? A week? A month? A year? The hallways seemed to go on forever and a day. Finally, Phoenix stopped in front of a large black door with intricately wrought silver upon it, and muttered something. The silver retracted, and the door swung open noiselessly. It was dark as night at first; then as Phoenix stepped into the room, it became pleasantly bright. And what a room it was!

For all manner of interesting little trinkets were in here, some that looked like swirling gas, others that spouted blue bubbles that when popped, gave advice. There were odd looking instruments that looked almost exactly like those found in Dumbledore's office, and there were other things that Hermione couldn't even begin to describe. But Phoenix led them past all that to a small chamber door, where she murmured some type of password and stepped back. The chamber door opened in a burst of white light, and then died down. They saw very clearly in the center of the room an octagonal screen with beautiful designs all over it. Phoenix walked over, tapped it with her wand, muttered more words, and stepped back. The screen began to glow silver, and then opened in a burst of light. When the light dimmed, they saw with perfect clarity a gray Pensieve with ancient carvings on it. Phoenix motioned for them to follow her in, and she pulled out the first memory, pouring it in the Pensieve. She prodded it with her wand, and it began to swirl and turn clear. They saw Draco's weakly smiling face, and the silver eyes soft with love. Phoenix touched the surface of the stuff with her finger and disappeared in a flash of white light. Blaise followed, and Hermione, after hesitating for a moment, did the same. Suddenly, she was falling at top speed through a vacuum, and then just as suddenly, she landed in Draco's bedroom on her feet. Blaise and Phoenix were standing next to Narcissa, and she was standing in front of the door next to Blaise, but she was by the bed…what? Then she remembered the whole thing about the memories, and she realized that this was when Draco had first awoken. She hurried to the bedside. Draco had just opened his eyes. Tears began dripping from them, and he whispered softly, "Mother, are you dead too? Did Father kill you?" Narcissa shook her head.

"No, darling, I'm not dead. And neither are you." Draco looked confused for a moment.

"But I have to be…I can't still be alive. Oh, I know! You _are_ still alive, it's just your spirit to help me move on to the afterlife…thanks, Mother. You always did care for me." Hermione was crying now, too. The real Blaise was standing beside Narcissa, his face stony and white. Phoenix simply watched.

"Oh, Draco. If only you could see yourself now…" Narcissa murmured quietly to her son.

"Why? Is the Dark Mark gone? Am I healed now? It doesn't feel like it, though…" Draco whispered.

"Draco…darling…you're not dead. Please believe me." Hermione saw Draco try to make an effort to raise his hand, but failed. How weak he had to be, if he couldn't even lift his hand!

"Mother, don't lie to comfort me. I know I'm dead, but I promised you I'd wait for you in heaven. I will, Mother, I promise. Don't cry, Mother, please." Tears had begun to fall down Narcissa's face as she watched Draco.

"I'll be in a better place soon, don't worry. Oh, and by the way, Mother…I'm dating a girl named Hermione Granger. Could you please tell her that I really loved her? I'm afraid that I won't ever see her again, even in heaven, because she might not believe in it. Please, Mother, tell her I love her." Blaise and Phoenix both looked up at Hermione. Blaise looked utterly shocked, while Phoenix merely grinned.

I will, son, I promise. Don't go away now…let me be with you for just a little longer," Narcissa pleaded. Draco half grinned.

"I'm already dead, remember? If it's possible, I promise I'll visit you in dreams."

"Draco, darling…"

"I'll be fine, Mother."

"Yes, you will, dearest. And always remember: Haud res quatenus absentis vos es—"

"Haud res qua vos es—"

"Vos mos usquequaque exsisto in meus pectus pectoris—"

"Vos es usquequaque exsisto me."

"Vestri rideo risi risum est meus lullaby—"

"Vestri smile est meus tripudium—"

"Quod vos es in meus sententia usquequaque," Narcissa finished. Draco smiled lightly.

"I loved that saying. I always did."

"I know. And I love it too. Can you keep awake for a little longer?"

"I'm so tired, Mother…could you let me sleep? Remember to tell Hermione…" and Draco closed his eyes and slipped away. Suddenly, they were all jerked away back to the real world. Hermione stumbled while she regained her balance. Blaise was looking at them questioningly.

"What the heck did whatever they were saying mean?"

Hermione ran the saying through her head, pulled out a piece of parchment, wrote it down with her wand, and used a Translation Charm on it. It was Latin… Haud res quatenus absentis vos es- No matter how far away you are. Haud res qua vos es-no matter where you are. Vos mos usquequaque exsisto in meus pectus pectoris- you will always be in my heart. Vos es usquequaque exsisto me- you are always with me. Vestri rideo risi risum est meus lullaby- Your laugh is my lullaby. Vestri smile est meus tripudium- your smile is my joy. Quod vos es in meus sententia usquequaque- and you are in my thoughts always. So put together, it was:

No matter how far away you are,  
No matter where you are,  
You will always be in my heart,  
You are always with me.  
Your laugh is my lullaby,  
Your smile is my joy,  
And you are in my thoughts always.

"It's Latin… Latin for: No matter how far away you are, no matter where you are, you will always be in my heart, you are always with me. Your laugh is my lullaby, your smile is my joy, and you are in my thoughts always."

"Ohh…" Blaise said weakly. "Sweet. Very sweet. And coupled with that whole "I love Hermione" thing…I've only heard him sound like that twice, both times when he was about to die. Maybe it's like his last messages or something…"

"Let's go into the next memory now," Phoenix said. Hermione thought her voice sounded constricted. She had retrieved the memory from the Pensieve, put the other one in, and was now prodding the surface again with her wand. Hermione sighed but prepared to dive back into the memory. And once again, Phoenix touched the substance, then Blaise did, and then Hermione did.

There was still that spinning, falling sensation, but it wasn't such a surprise anymore. Hermione landed again in Draco's bedroom by his bed, where he was still lying unconscious. Phoenix and Blaise were standing on either side of her this time. Then, suddenly, his eyes snapped open, his face rigid and watchful. After a few moments the muscles relaxed, and he smiled benignly.

"Thanks, angel, for doing that. It does help, waking up to my mother," Draco murmured, his voice still barely a whisper. Narcissa looked on the verge of tears.

"Draco, you're awake," she managed to choke out.

"Yes, and I don't feel any pain. That's good, really good. How do you manage to make yourself look like my mother?" Draco asked, his beautiful silver eyes watchful and curious.

"Draco, I _am_ your mother."

"Oh right, I forgot, my mother can spirit travel. So if you are my mother, would you know who I love?" Hermione, Phoenix, and Blaise all jerked up at this. But Narcissa remained unfazed.

"Hermione Granger." A flare of recognition and worry went up in Draco's eyes.

"Mother! You didn't have to come. Come on, you can leave me alone now, I'll be fine, probably even better off than you. I'll wait. I'll always be here until you come. You can't keep doling on me…live your life," Draco pleaded. Hermione watched him carefully, observing the way Draco's eyes showed more emotion than the rest of him put together.

"Draco, you're not dead."

"Mother, why do you persist in trying to tell me that? I know I'm dead. I accept it. Just because I'm a Child of Everything doesn't mean I'm so drawn to life that without it, I'm not myself. Don't worry. Besides, I'm alive in spirit." Hermione could see tears welling up in Narcissa's eyes now as she continued poring over Draco.

"Draco, darling, I miss you."

"Don't, Mother. I'll see you in your dreams. I told you that I would find your dreams and see them, if at all possible."

"Your father hurt you so badly…" Narcissa sniffled. Blaise growled. It was true. Lucius had hurt Draco so badly that death had only been avoided by a millimeter—as far as they knew. But what they did not know was that Draco _had_ been dead for ten minutes before the shock of traveling by Floo powder had started his heart again. Which was also why he believed himself dead.

"Don't blame him, Mother. I know he thought he was doing the right thing. I don't hate him, even if he did kill me. All's forgiven."

"Draco, you have such a good heart. Not many can forgive someone who did that to them." Blaise growled again.

"So true…," Blaise muttered under his breath.

"That's why I'm a Child—because I can forgive. You can leave, Mother, I'll be fine. I miss you too, Mother, but you can't keep doing this. I'm tired again…why am I so tired? Let me sleep, Mother…I'll see you in your dreams soon enough."

"Good night, my son."

"Thank you." The words were barely a whisper as Draco sighed and went back to sleep, his hair falling over his face. He looked like a sleeping angel, lying there. Hermione wanted to sob until she ran out of tears, but she knew it would not be possible. And then, they were jerked back to reality again. Phoenix immediately began removing that memory and putting the final one in. And so it happened that in less than a minute, they were spiraling down the third and final memory.

This memory, unlike the other two, did not take place in Draco's bedroom. Instead, it was totally dark. Hermione recognized it as the hallway just outside Draco's bedroom. Two figures stood just outside the door,

"Lucius, have you any idea what you've done?" Narcissa's voice echoed. Hermione realized that she was standing a few yards away from her. And then she noticed the other figure was Lucius.

"Taught our son a lesson, that's what I've done." Hermione harrumphed quietly. Taught him a lesson indeed! More like nearly killed him.

"No, you didn't teach him anything. You simply abused him and hurt him." _That_ was true.

"He was always your weakness. Without him, you would be so much stronger," Lucius said empathetically.

"I'm strong with him."

"You are not. He deserved everything that came to him." Hermione's mouth gaped open at this. This _was_ a father, right?

"Not everything. Some things, like his girlfriend and a caring best friend, he deserved. Others, like your beatings of him, he never did deserve."

"So he's got a girlfriend now, does he?"

"Yes, he does," Hermione muttered to herself. "And I'm it."

"Yes, and she cares for him immensely, unlike you. You hardly care that you hurt him so badly he was knocked out."

"He's never knocked out after a beating."

"He was this time! Think about what you did, Lucius."

"I taught him a lesson, to not fear pain."

"No, you made it worse. He could be dead if his friends hadn't brought him here."

"Ah, yes, his friends. The ones that temporarily blinded and deafened me, and knocked me out, just so I wouldn't see what they were doing with _my_ son."

"Your son that you don't treat like a son. And they did the right thing."

"Darn right we did the right thing," Blaise's voice muttered angrily. Phoenix made a shh-ing noise and fell silent again.

"I treat him like he should be treated, Narcissa."

"Lucius, he thinks he's dead! He thinks you've beaten him to death, that you might do the same to me! Tell me that's normal!"

"It's not. But he'll find out soon enough that he's alive. This is very good for him. Do you know what I did tonight?"

"You almost became a murderer," Phoenix said softly.

"Yes. You very nearly killed my son," Narcissa said quietly.

"_Your_ son? _Yours? _He's as much my son as heis yours! And I have a right to spank some sense into him!"

"You didn't spank him, Lucius! You. Almost. KILLED HIM!" Narcissa's voice was so filled with anger at those last two words that Hermione actually backed away from her. But Lucius did not.

"He'll recover."

"Right now, there's no guarantee he'll even survive. Have you even seen him?"

"No. I'll see him later. Right now, I'm going back to the Summit. And he had better be there for the official meetings." With that, Lucius turned around, swept his cloak behind him, and strode away. Narcissa looked at his retreating back for a moment, then entered Draco's bedroom again, closing the door. Once again, the scene spun as they were whisked away from the world of memories and landed in the small chamber. Phoenix looked hostilely at the memory and proceeded to stuff it back into a flask, and then dropping it somewhere in her robes. Blaise looked ready to murder somebody.

"LUCIUS IS SUCH A (beep (f*cking a*shole))! HE SAID THAT ABOUT HIS OWN SON? AND HE DOESN'T EVEN CARE HOW BADLY HURT HE IS! WHAT KIND OF A FATHER IS THAT? AND DON'T YOU DARE, PHOENIX, TO TELL ME OFF FOR CUSSING!" Blaise yelled in fury.

"Hush, Blaise, we'll deal with that later. We'll help Draco, and Lucius will pay back for what he's done. Besides, I wasn't going to tell you off. Not this time," Phoenix soothed, patting Blaise's shoulder gently. Blaise took a deep breath, and exhaled. Hermione was frightened, though. When Blaise had been yelling, his face had turned angular and sharp, like a hawk's. He looked scary, no, _terrifying_, dangerous and perfectly capable of killing someone. Hermione remembered that Blaise was part veela, and that the veela at the Quidditch World Cup in her fourth year had also transformed into beautiful birds of prey when they were angry, so she decided to let it go. But it still scared the heck out of her. Blaise turned back to her.

"Let's go. I'm going to see Drake again, and then we're leaving. You're welcome to come with me if you'd like, but you can also just leave."

"I'm coming," Phoenix said. "Icefire's still up there anyways."

"So am I," Hermione chimed in. Blaise nodded and swept out of the room. Phoenix closed the Pensieve back into the screen, and shut it with a wave of her wand. Then she, too, turned away and walked out of the door. Hermione followed, and closed the door of the chamber behind her with a tiny click. Then she followed Blaise and Phoenix back up a hundred staircases. Though she struggled to keep up, she didn't dare let them out of her sight, for if she did, she would be completely and utterly lost, especially seeing as there were thousands of staircases, multiple rooms, hallways that seemed to go on forever, and the occasional spinning of a hallway. But Phoenix and Blaise seemed undeterred. They walked with a purpose, a determination that Hermione could only wish for. And finally, finally, they found Draco's bedroom. The three of them pushed open the door and stepped inside. And they saw that Draco was awake.

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Please review or comment. High school Science Bowl is also coming up…I have no freaking idea where to start on that.


	16. Chapter 16: Revelation

A/N: I'm so, so sorry for updating sooner, but we have state testing and whatnot, plus all of coaching for Science Olympiad State, and then Nationals for High School Science Bowl, then coaching for Nationals for Middle School Science Bowl… AAARAGH. Sorry.

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

"_So am I," Hermione chimed in. Blaise nodded and swept out of the room. Phoenix closed the Pensieve back into the screen, and shut it with a wave of her wand. Then she, too, turned away and walked out of the door. Hermione followed, and closed the door of the chamber behind her with a tiny click. Then she followed Blaise and Phoenix back up a hundred staircases. Though she struggled to keep up, she didn't dare let them out of her sight, for if she did, she would be completely and utterly lost, especially seeing as there were thousands of staircases, multiple rooms, hallways that seemed to go on forever, and the occasional spinning of a hallway. But Phoenix and Blaise seemed undeterred. They walked with a purpose, a determination that Hermione could only wish for. And finally, finally, they found Draco's bedroom. The three of them pushed open the door and stepped inside. And they saw that Draco was awake._

**ACTUAL STORY**

**Back at the Summit**

Draco, though he was still lying back in his bed, was very obviously awake, because they could hear whispers of words in his voice, and Narcissa was bent over the bed. Hermione rushed forward, while Phoenix called Icefire back to her and Blaise just stood there, looking uncomfortable. Hermione side-stepped beside Narcissa to hear what Draco was saying.

"...death isn't so bad at all. I feel completely renewed. So, I guess this is final goodbye, Mother. Now that I'm okay again, you don't need to come anymore. I'll still wait…Granger? That you?" For he had noticed Hermione standing beside his mother, and his soft, silver eyes were wide with shock.

"Of course…all Children are spirit travelers. Hey, Granger.'

"Why is it you can never call me Hermione?" Hermione asked softly.

"Because…I don't know, actually. I guess…I just don't."

"Are you going to wait for me too?"

"I don't know if you'll ever find your way here again, you might not believe in this, and even if you did, this is a big place…so before you say goodbye, could you please kiss me one last time? Please?" Draco's voice was whispery and thin, but somehow still strong in his words.

"Of course, of course…" Narcissa stepped back so Hermione could move closer. Then she bowed her head down, and very gently, brushed her lips against his. Then she pressed down a little harder, and his mouth opened a little more. And Hermione felt like she was being washed away into an ocean of salty grief, for his lips tasted like salt, from all the tears he had shed and all the tears his mother had shed. She wrapped her arms around his head gently, and lifted him up a little more, so she could kiss him more thoroughly. Which she did, and let herself give in to it. And after a very long while, she pulled back and laid his head back on the pillows.

"You know you're not dead, don't you?" she said. Draco shook his head.

"Oh, I am. I know I am. Don't try that again, I'm not so-"

"You. Are. Not. Dead. And you _will_ live to realize your true potential as a Child."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…sit up and tell me where you are," Hermione ordered. Draco frowned, but tried to do as he was told. And failed. The phoenix tears had healed him, all right, but he was still incredibly weak. Too weak to sit up without help. Hermione put her arms around him and helped him, pulling him up. His eyes glazed over a little at the exertion, then refocused as he glanced around.

"My bedroom…in hospital mode. And Blaise and Phoenix are here…I know for a FACT that Blaise is not capable of spirit travel of any sort. Unless…it's an angel masquerading as him?"

"Draco! How can you see him standing right here and think it's an angel?"

"Fine, I'll ask him one question. How many?" he asked, turning to Blaise, who was now next to Hermione.

"Now? I'd say, nine, ten." Blaise replied, a smile playing on his lips.

"Ah. So I'm really not dead. And if I'm not dead, then you just watched Granger and me engage in a snogging session. Did you enjoy it?"

"Not really, but it was an interesting insight. All the same, it's weird to see you kissing Granger, more than anyone else, so don't do that in front of me again. It freaks me out. But any other girl…you're welcome to snog her brains out in front of me.

"Maybe…"

"You two are completely impossible," Hermione said.

"We know," they said at the same time, and burst out laughing. Blaise's laugh was deep, rich, and full, while Draco's was throaty and hoarse but still clear and happy. Hermione smiled. Phoenix cleared her throat."

"Hermione, Blaise. We've got fifteen minutes before sightseeing, so I suggest getting on with it. Ginny can only make excuses for so long…"

"I'm going with you," Draco said suddenly, struggling to stand. Hermione and Narcissa simultaneously said, "No!"

"You're not strong enough. Look at you, you can't even stand up."

"I can if you help me."

"And how are we going to do that without people noticing at the Summit?"

"I'm still going. Phoenix knows a few spells that could help me, and I could make a Strengthening Potion for myself at some point." Narcissa spoke up.

"I will do that. All the same, you shouldn't go now. You don't have enough strength to stand, much less walk. And as much as Blaise could help you, it might be better to stay here for a little while."

"I have some in my robes, Mrs. Malfoy. Brewing it for him won't be necessary," Phoenix said.

"I don't think so. I _will_ go back to the Summit _now_. I'm not giving in to Father."

"You're not being reasonable, Draco," Blaise said gently.

"Twelve minutes!" Phoenix called.

"We're going now," Blaise said. Draco grabbed a cane from the side of his bed. Hermione blinked. She was sure it hadn't been there before. He used it to hobble over to the fire, drew out a small pouch of Floo powder, took some out, threw it into the flames and stepped into it, and before anyone could stop him, he yelled, "My bedroom, the Summit!" and was whisked away. Hermione looked on in dismay, while Blaise merely shook his head.

"Ah, I suppose there was no stopping Draco once he had his mind set," Narcissa sighed. "Hermione, will you please come back tonight so as to inform me of his condition and so I may discuss a few things with you?" Hermione nodded slowly. Narcissa smiled gently. Phoenix sighed and touched Icefire's wing, and in an instant, they vanished in a column of gold light. Blaise and Hermione resigned to using Floo powder—again.

Once they stepped out of the fire, the saw Draco leaning heavily on his cane, without a shirt on or robes. Blaise frowned, found some clothes in the closet, and threw them to Draco, who caught them and moved over to the bed, where he sat down and proceeded to put them on. Then Phoenix came over, pulled a vial full of blue liquid out of her robes, and gave it to Draco, who drank it readily and grimaced at the taste. Then he managed to stand up without the support of the cane, albeit shakily. Cautiously, he took a step, and stumbled. Phoenix managed to grab his arm just in time, and pulled him back to his feet. He stood up again.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"You have to wait for a few seconds to let the potion take effect."

"I know. I'm not tied for the best Potions student in Hogwarts for nothing."

"Who're you tied with? No, wait, that's a stupid question, it's Granger," Blaise said.

"No, it's Weasley," Draco said sarcastically. "Of course, Granger, smart one!"

"Hey, hey, no need to get all offended."

"Not offended, just wondering why you're third in our year after Granger and me."

"Why? Because I'm so much smarter than you?"

"You wish."

"What's the smallest two digit number?" Phoenix said suddenly.

"Eleven!" Blaise yelled out.

"Oh, genius. Absolute genius. Yes, Blaise, _eleven_. The smallest two digit number is _eleven_. Who didn't know that? Yes, you're pure genius, Blaise. For your information, the smallest two digit number is _ten_," Draco said, laughing.

"Anyone can make a mistake!" Blaise defended himself.

"Not that stupid of one. By the way, Phoenix, why'd you ask that? I thought you were really smart."

"To see if all of you are really so smart. By the way, the smallest two digit number is negative ninety nine. If you realized, I didn't say smallest _positive_ number. And also, my grades aren't figured into our year's grades. They're individual. Which means I have the same score in classes as Draco and Hermione. It's just that nobody _knows_ that because my grades aren't totaled in as part of the year school records. Everything else is, though."

"Perfect. Just more and more perfect. A girl whose grades are phenomenal, is so freaking hot but can't date me because she's a freaking Child of Nothing, can actually carry on a decent conversation, is actually _nice_ to Slytherins…why can I not ask her out?" Blaise fumed.

"So you think I'm "hot", do you now, Blaise?" Phoenix asked, grinning.

"Of course I do! Ever looked in a mirror?"

"Yes, I have. But sorry, I can't go out with you. I am –"

"Yeah, yeah a Child of Nothing, I know. But it wouldn't hurt to go on one date, would it?"

"Yes it would. Though if it makes you feel better, if I were not a Child of Nothing, I would probably go out with you if you asked."

"That does make me feel better. At least I know the only reason you're refusing me is because you're a Child of Nothing."

"And one thing, Blaise. Ginny, or Weaslette, as you call her, likes you. A whole lot. Go ask her out," Phoenix replied.

"Hmm…well, she's not half bad looking…pretty intelligent…only about three months younger than I am, seeing as my birthday's in July and hers is in October…pretty nice to me, usually, except when she makes fun of Drake…a possibility. That's all I'm saying."

"What the heck, Zabini, just ask her out," Hermione snapped.

"Ah, so I'm back to Zabini now, am I? Well, that's fine by me."

"You and Draco are so much alike. He said the exact same thing to me in almost the same circumstances."

"We're not best friends without reason," Blaise and Draco laughed simultaneously.

"You're spirit brothers," Phoenix said suddenly.

"What?" Blaise and Draco said together.

"You're not related by blood—at least not directly—but your spirits intertwine with each other in brotherhood. Kind of obvious, really. How many times have you finished each others' sentences or same the same thing at the same time?" Blaise and Draco thought about it for a moment.

"A lot," Blaise finally said.

"We finish each others' sentences half the time we're around each other, and say the same thing together so much that it's kind of scary," Draco mused.

"And we're also polar opposites—"

"—and at the same time, exactly—"

"—the same. We've never figured—"

"—out why we can kind of read—"

"—each others' thoughts without—"

"—Legilimency. And Occlumency doesn't—"

"—work between the two of us. It's kind of—"

"—weird, but we've learned to—"

"—deal with it. We're not the Weasley twins or anything—"

"—although there _are_ some frightening—"

"—similarities between the read mind of another person thing. It's—"

"—freaky, but it's really nice too, sometimes. It feels like—"

"Stop!" Hermione yelled. "You're _worse_ than the Weasley twins." Phoenix laughed.

"See? You _are_ spirit brothers. And you couldn't hope for a better one, either of you," Phoenix said triumphantly.

"Fine…brother," Blaise said, grinning. Phoenix looked thoughtful.

"Touch your index fingers together," she said suddenly.

"Why?" Draco asked.

"Just do it!" she snapped irritably. Blaise and Draco shrugged, and touched their index fingers. A spark of light jumped between them where their fingers touched. They flinched slightly, but did not break contact. Phoenix motioned for them to pull away, which they did, and a beam of silver and blue light formed between their fingers.

"So awesome," breathed Blaise and Draco together.

"Wow. This is…surprising," Hermione said uncertainly. Phoenix stepped over to them, pulled their wands out of their hands (they were both holding them), and tapped the center of the beam of light, which sent out a shower of sparks in every direction. And then, when Phoenix lifted the wands, the sparks died down, and the beam of light slowly faded. But Blaise and Draco were grinning hugely.

"Freaking BEAST!" Blaise yelled.

"Very nice," Draco said demurely. "Hey, Phoenix, do you have a soul brother or sister?" The grin on Phoenix's face melted off and her face tightened. Only her eyes showed any emotion. And they were fiery, sad, and regretful.

"I used to have a soul brother," she said quietly.

"What happened to him?" Hermione asked.

"I don't want to talk about it. Please, just don't ask." Suddenly, a rapping came on their door, saving Phoenix from having to talk farther.

"You three had better come out NOW!" Ginny's voice sounded, annoyed. "Robert's freaking out and Ron and Harry are more than freaking out. And the others…let's just say either get out now or you're going to be in a WHOLE lot of trouble."

"All right, we're coming," Phoenix called, her eyes still full of that weird, fiery passion. Draco stood up, and attempted to walk again. This time, he succeeded. He grinned and turned back to them.

"Let's go," he said. The others all followed him out the door. Ginny was waiting, tapping her toe.

"Come on, come on, if we're any later, we're going to be in so much trouble. And I don't want to be in so much trouble," Ginny said.

"Yes, yes," Draco grumbled. Ginny looked surprised.

"I'd have thought you were still back at your manor…obviously I was wrong…"

"Why?"

"Didn't you get beat up by your father just about two hours ago?"

"How'd you know that?"

"One word: Hermione," Ginny said, grinning. Draco turned slowly to Hermione.

"You _told_ her? About what my father does to me? Why? I didn't even want to tell you; I definitely did not want Weaslette knowing."

"Well, I needed help," Hermione defended herself.

"You could have asked Blaise or Phoenix! They both already know! You didn't need to drag mini-Weasel into it!"

"She did the right thing," Ginny said. "She should have told me. I'm her closest girl friend. And she knew I would have been really worried if she kept disappearing without reason."

"Shut up, mini-Weasel. This is _my_ life and I don't want too many people messing with it or knowing about it. So I would beg of you, _shut your mouth up_ in the future, Weaslette. To everybody. As long as it deals with me. And that goes for the rest of you, too. I do _not_ appreciate people trying to change my life. I'll change my life when I want. And what my father does to me or otherwise is none of your business!" Draco shot Ginny a look of pure venom, his eyes cold, glittering ice once again, and turned away. Blaise murmured something to Draco, who snorted and whispered something back. Then Harry saw them.

"Oh, Hermione, Phoenix! Thank goodness! The other Weasleys are so worried. And Ferret is back from his walk with death, is he?" Draco flinched slightly, because that was not far from what he had actually been doing. "Anyways, Robert is about to murder the rest of us, he's so high strung. We'd best get along now." Saying so, he led them out of the suite and into the hallway, where the Beauxbatons and the Durmstrang lot were standing with Robert in front of them, his arms across his chest, a scowl set heavily on his face. He looked about ready to explode. Not unlike what Blaise had looked like when he was cussing out Lucius, though Robert didn't look half as dangerous.

"Where. The. Freaking. Hell. WERE YOU?" Robert roared. "Do you have ANY IDEA how worried I was? Do you KNOW much trouble I'd be in? Especially as the ones who disappeared were the two BEST representatives and our ONLY Student Healer! Next time you pull a disappearing act, TELL SOMEONE! Two HOURS I've been trying to find you! First Ron told me you were back, but you obviously WEREN'T because I couldn't find you ANYWHERE! And then, and then all the rest of the red haired lot completely spazed OUT—"

"Like you weren't?" Ron said loudly. Robert looked at him furiously.

"SHUT UP. My point is, DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Robert's voice echoed off the walls of the hallway, while everyone except Draco, Hermione, Phoenix, and Blaise cowered under the force of Robert's anger.

"Like Mum when she's in a snit," Ginny murmured softly to Hermione, who stifled a giggle at that. Draco seemed unperturbed. But then again, his father yelling at him was probably much worse. Suddenly, the guest and other elevator dinged open and Pierre stood there with his group, arms crossed.

"Are we going or not? We're five minutes late already!" Pierre snapped.

"Right right…" Robert said, looking slightly flustered.

"No, we're not walking all the way there when we're already late. We're taking a Portkey. No bathing suits today, peoples. Let's go already."

"How're we all going to fit around one Portkey?" Ron asked.

"It's a big Portkey," Pierre answered steadily, pulling out a bundle of rolled cloth. He shook it out, and it nearly covered the entire hallway.

'Right, everyone, step on it," Pierre ordered. Everyone did, murmuring slightly, and Pierre activated it. Blaise started counting down, like he had when they first came to the island.

"Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one…NOW!" Blaise's voice resounded as they were all pulled away into a world of spinning color. Moments later they were deposited onto the ground in the middle of a jungle.

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Next Chapter…

A/N: Because I haven't updated in so long, I decided to post this too, it was only the rough draft, though, so I didn't fully edit it yet. If there are any problems, please tell me. It's kind of blabby, but it's very important in future chapters…you'll see why later. I only have an idea, though…

A/N 2: The songs in this chapter are by Owl City and Hilary Duff (actually, only the first one is by Hilary Duff. The others are Owl City.).

"Everyone off!" Robert called. The group mumbled and stepped off the carpet. Draco nearly tripped. Though he had taken the Strengthening Potion, it had been a small dose and he was at the moment very, very weak. Blaise grabbed his arm to steady him, and Draco recovered.

"Easy, easy. I look forward to the day when you actually get better."

"That day will be, most likely, tomorrow, unless my snake of a father decides to beat me again."

"I won't let that happen."

"What chance do you stand against him? He'll just hit you too."

"Hermione saved you. She immobilized your father."

"That's because she was under Potter's invisibility cloak!"

"I still won't let him hit you again for the remainder of the trip. Even if I won't be able to use my wand."

"All right, all right. Stop him if you can."

"I'm pretty sure Phoenix and Hermione will help."

"No doubt."

"Until then, I'll help you…and may you recover fast enough for the actual meetings."

"Relax, I've got about three days."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Robert's loud voice echoed over the throng of people. "Everyone! Mount your steeds from yesterday; you'll know who they are, they'll come right to you. We're not flying anymore today, but we're going a long way and we're enjoying scenery while we're at it." He clapped his hands, and the Abraxan horses and thestrals trotted out of the tropical forest. Draco's thestral came straight to him, snorting happily. Draco grinned gently.

"Hey, boy," he murmured, stroking the thestral's soft nose. Reaching into his robes with his other hand, he wandlessly conjured a lump of sugar, and then pulled it out, hand feeding it to the noble black animal. The thestral whinnied contentedly as it licked the sugar off of Draco's hand. Draco laughed and continued stroking the thestral's nose. His hand was sticky now, but he hardly cared. Thestrals had always understood him, and, though it wasn't a well known fact, they could actually communicate with humans through their minds. They didn't show this skill very often; however, he happened to be one of those who could coax words out of any thestral. So it came as no surprise to him when a soft, whinnying voice sounded in his head.

_You're a nice boy. Everyone who has ridden me has either hurt me or completely ignored me. And they were all afraid, too. You know what, I really like you._ The thestral's voice was soft and slightly scratchy. Draco had long since known how to reply to thestrals using his mind. So he projected his thoughts over to the thestral.

_Thanks. I don't get that a lot. Most people hate me…in fact, I can only think of four people who don't,_ Draco thought back at the thestral, mounting it, as Robert was at the front, about to start riding.

_So, your mom, your dad, your girlfriend, and who else?_

_Close. My mom, my best friend who also happens to be my spirit brother, my girlfriend, and a close friend who actually accepts me._

_What about your dad?_

_You remember how I was bleeding all over you yesterday night?_

_Yes…_

_My dad did that to me._

_That's cruel…no thestral would ever do that to a foal._

_I know. My dad is special._

_In a bad way?_

_Most definitely._

_So what about your close friend?_

_She happens to be a Child of Nothing. Coincidentally, I 'm a Child of Everything, as is my girlfriend. They're both Gryffindors. _

_That's why you feel so different. This is only the second time in a thousand years, isn't it? Last time, it was the four founders of Hogwarts, wasn't it?_

_Yes, Slytherin and Ravenclaw were Children of Everything, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were Children of Nothing._

_Interesting. According to you, then, the other two are Gryffindors, one is a Child of Everything, one is a Child of Nothing…the Child of Nothing is more talented, yes?_

_Musically and artistically, yes. Smarts, about equal. Smart retorts…never met anyone like that Child of Everything for one with a big mouth. Kissing…the Child of Nothing is way back on that. Phoenix has probably never kissed anyone in her life. Hermione, on the other hand…Viktor Krum, Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, and, of course, me. _

_Interesting. And the Nothing Child accepts you?_

_Yes, let's stop talking about Everything and Nothing now, please? It always makes everything seem so complicated._

_All right. So, your girlfriend is named Hermione? _

_Yes, yes, after the Greek goddess of harmony._

_I know. I'm not that stupid._

_I never said you were. What's your name? I can't just call you thestral._

_._

_Say again?_

_._

_Let me try…Peter ran a shop—wait—Peter and a chop- no—Peteran as hop stine… say what again?_

_._

_Peter-ran-a-shaulp-stine-atha-nicklaus-titzen-moscow-liniz?_

_String it together._

_._

_Excellent! That's my name! _

_Right...my name is Draco Malfoy. No grudges, please._

_None held. By the way, if you like, call me Peter._

_Robert's first name is Peter._

_I know. Ironically, when he rides a thestral, it's usually me he rides._

_Does he know your name?_

_No. Usually, he calls me "Horsey thing". He doesn't ride me much, but when he does, that is what he calls me._

_Very well, that's interesting._

_Just look around at how beautiful this place is!_

_Let me, let me, pass the wind. Touch me, touch me, be akin. Feel me, feel me, when you mend. Hear me, hear me, sing again. _

_Poetry. Lovely. _

"Hey, gorgeous, I want you to listen to a song." A voice sounded outside of Draco's head, and he looked at her, annoyed. It was that girl Sarah. She held out a small rectangular device with two strings ending in a knob coming from it. She stuck the knobs into his ears, and to his amazement, music began to play. It was soft, then became louder as the voice actually began singing.

_Let's go back,_

_Back to the beginning._

_Back to when the earth, the sun, the stars, were all aligned._

'_Cause perfect_

_Didn't feel so perfect._

_Trying to fit a square into a circle_

_Was my life_

_I defy…_

_Let the rain fall down_

_And wake my dreams_

_Let it wash away_

_My sanity_

'_Cause I wanna feel the thunder_

_I wanna scream_

_Let the rain fall down_

_I'm coming clean…_

_I'm shedding_

_Shedding every color_

_Trying to find a pigment of truth_

_Beneath my skin_

_Oooooo_

'_Cause different_

_Didn't feel so different_

_And going out is better_

_Than always staying in_

_Feel the wind_

_Let the rain fall down_

_And wake my dreams _

_Let it wash away_

_My sanity_

'_Cause I wanna feel the thunder_

_I wanna scream_

_Let the rain fall down_

_I'm comin' clean…_

_I'm comin' clean…_

_Rain, fall down_

_I'm coming clean…_

_Rain, fall down…_

_I hear rain fall down…_

_Let the rain fall_

_Baby, let the rain fall…_

_Let the rain fall…_

_I'm coming clean…_

_Let the rain fall down_

_And wake my dreams_

_Let it wash away_

_My sanity_

'_Cause I wanna feel the thunder_

_I wanna scream_

_Let the rain fall down_

_I'm coming clean_

_Let the rain fall down_

_And wake my dreams (I'm coming clean)_

_Let it wash away_

_My sanity (I'm coming clean)_

'_Cause I wanna feel the thunder (Let the rain fall)_

_I wanna scream (Let the rain fall)_

_Let the rain fall down (Let the rain fall)_

_I'm coming clean…_

Draco listened to it, frowning slightly. It was a pretty song, and pretty deep.

"It's a rather old song, but I like it. It's inspiring," Sarah said.

"Let me listen to it again," Draco requested.

"Sure. Listen to it as much as you'd like. Here, keep this for the rest of the day. It's called an iPod, by the way," she said, handing him the rectangular device. Draco nodded slightly, and began trying to figure out how to work it. He did, after a minute. He hit the replay button, and listened to it again…and again…and again…until he had it memorized. Every word of the song was burned forever across his memory. Then he hit another song to play. This one was sung by a male, but it was still inspiring and beautiful.

_Dada, dada, dadadadadadada_

_Dada, dada, dadadadadadada_

_Shipwreck in the sea of faces_

_There's a stormy world out there._

_Dear friends in higher places_

_Carry me away from here._

_Travel light_

_Let the sun eclipse you_

'_Cause your flight is about to leave_

_And there's more to this brave adventure_

_Than you'd ever believe…._

_Birds' eye view_

_Awake the stars 'cause they're all around you_

_Wide eyes will always brighten the blue_

_Chase your dreams_

_And remember me_

_Sweet bravery_

'_Cause after all those wings will take you up so high_

_So bid the forest floor goodbye as you race the wind and_

_Take to the sky... you take to the sky_

_Dada, dada, dadadadadadada_

_Dada, dada, dadadadadadada_

_On the hills of lore and wonder,_

_There's a stormy world up there,_

_You can't whisper above the thunder,_

_But you can fly anywhere,_

_Purple burst of paper birds this_

_Picture paints a thousand words,_

_So take a breath of myth and mystery,_

_And don't look back!_

_Birdseye view _

_Awake the stars 'cause they're all around you,_

_Wide eyes will always brighten the blue,_

_Chase your dreams, and remember me _

_Sweet bravery,_

_'cause after all those wings will take you up so high,_

_So bid the forest floor goodbye, as you race the wind and,_

_Take to the sky... (you take to the sky)_

_Da da, da da, dadadadadadada_

_Dad a, dad a, dadadadadadada…_

_There's a realm above the trees,_

_Where the lost are finally found,_

_So touch your feathers to the breeze,_

_And leave the ground_

_Birdseye view, awake the stars 'cause they're all around you,_

_Wide eyes will always brighten the blue,_

_Chase your dreams, and remember me, sweet bravery,_

_'cause after all those wings will take you, up so high,_

_So bid the forest floor goodbye, as you race the wind and,_

_Take to the sky... you take to the sky...(you take to the sky)_

_Dada, dada, dadadadadadada_

_Dada, dada, dadadadadadada_

_You take to the sky…_

Draco smiled lightly, and played that song over and over again too, until he had that one memorized as well. He shared the songs with Peter, and the thestral ran the lyrics through his head over and again. Then, he played yet another song that sounded like the same artist that had sung the previous song. There was quite a bit of instrumental in the beginning.

_You would not believe your eyes_

_If ten million fireflies_

_Lit up the world as I fell asleep_

'_Cause they'd fill the open air_

_And leave teardrops everywhere_

_You'd think me rude but I'd just stand and_

_Stare_

_I'd like to make myself believe_

_That planet Earth turns_

_Slowly…_

_It's hard to say I'd rather stay _

_Awake when I'm asleep_

_Because everything is never as it seems…_

'_Cause I'd get a thousand hugs_

_From ten thousand lightning bugs_

_As they tried to teach me how to dance…_

_A fox trot above my head_

_A sock hop beneath my bed_

_A disco ball is just hanging by a _

_Thread_

_I'd like to make myself believe_

_That planet Earth turns_

_Slowly…_

_It's hard to say I'd rather stay_

_Awake when I'm asleep_

_Because everything is never as it seems_

_When I fall asleep…_

_Leave my door open just a crack _

_(Please. Take me away from here.)_

'_Cause I feel like such an insomniac_

_(Please. Take me away from here.)_

_Why do I tire of counting sheep_

_(Please. Take me away from here.)_

_When I'm far too tired to fall asleep?_

_To ten million fireflies_

_I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes_

_I've got misty eyes as I said farewell_

_But I'll know where several are_

_In case my dreams get real bizarre_

'_Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar…_

_I'd like to make myself believe_

_That planet Earth turns_

_Slowly…_

_It's hard to say I'd rather stay_

_Awake when I'm asleep_

_Because everything is never as it seems_

_When I fall asleep._

_I'd like to make myself believe_

_That planet Earth turns_

_Slowly…_

_It's hard to say I'd rather stay_

_Awake when I'm asleep_

_Because my dreams are bursting at the seams…_

Draco grinned, and memorized this song too, and listened to many other songs, but they didn't have the same effect on him. He coupled the music with the beautiful scenery, and inhaled deeply the scents of the forests, the tropical smells, mixed it with memories of his mother, Hermione, Blaise, and Phoenix, and that one time he had truly laughed, and a little true happiness bubbled for the very first time ever inside of him. He smiled softly, and spread his senses, as every Child of Everything could do.


	17. Chapter 17: Insight and Mystery

A/N: Fanfiction was down for a little while-that's why last chapter took so long. And now, Nationals is only a few weeks away and our team is in a crazed frenzy. Plus, National Science Bowl is this Thursday, and out middle school competitors are studying insanely at this point…and I'm their coach.

A/N 2: Half this chapter will be about Science Olympiad. My friend (bless his heart) made me promise to include Science Olympiad in this fanfiction. Which means, basically, that he's going to write half this chapter and most of another chapter, which will come…actually, I don't know when. (He also made me promise to put a national Science Olympiad competition into this, as recent as possible. Which basically means, I can't write it.) But I will edit everything. And everything about Science Olympiad in this chapter is true. The people who we (my friend and me)describe really do exist. And either my friend or I or both of us personally know them (except, of course, the people that I actually name. Those are just characters in the story).

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

_Draco grinned, and memorized this song too, and listened to many other songs, but they didn't have the same effect on him. He coupled the music with the beautiful scenery, and inhaled deeply the scents of the forests, the tropical smells, mixed it with memories of his mother, Hermione, Blaise, and Phoenix, and that one time he had truly laughed, and a little true happiness bubbled for the very first time ever inside of him. He smiled softly, and spread his senses, as every Child of Everything could do._

**ACTUAL STORY**

**Back at the Summit**

Hermione watched Draco ride his thestral, watched Sarah give him an iPod, watched him listen to the songs, watched him smile as he listened and looked around his surroundings, watched him be happy. She was happy for him, jealous of Sarah, and afraid that her thestral would take flight any minute. Phoenix rode up beside her on her thestral, and laughed at Hermione.

"Ah, Hermione, you're jealous of Sarah, aren't you?" Hermione nodded unwillingly. "No need to be. Draco's heart belongs with you, and he can have friends that are girls, you know. After all, aren't you Harry and Ron's friends?"

"Yes…" Hermione said unwillingly.

"And you're not dating them, are you? No, you're not. So don't be so uptight about Draco having girl friends."

"All right, Phoenix. I guess you're right."

"Aren't I always?"

"Yes, I guess. I'm going to change the subject now. You've mentioned Science Olympiad at least a million times…why do you love it so much? Even though you're never doing it again?"

"Well, Hermione, where do I start? The thing about Science Olympiad is…well, there's nothing like it. You see, these people's lives revolve around Science Olympiad. Someone once said to me: First you hate it, then you accept it, and now you love it. It's true, Hermione. First off, you hate the fact that Science Olympiad takes up so much time, and energy, and it's so much work. You have to dedicate at least half—and I do mean _at least_ half- your current life to it. But then, slowly, you come to accept it and work harder. And then it's just one small step to liking it. A lot. And then, you fall in love with it. Science Olympiad, I mean. Your life begins completely revolving around Science Olympiad. There's other stuff, sure, but nothing matters as much as Science Olympiad. Oh, usually, there's denial and all that, but then you come to truly accept it and then, you love it with all your heart. There's nothing that means more to you at that point.

"And you see, winning and medaling are their rewards. I know a person, who, for Science Olympiad, ordered over a thousand types of balsa wood, tested the relative strength and weight of each, did all the math to every single type of the balsa wood to calculate tension and strength relative to weight, and then used that information to sort it into over 150 categories. Someone else studied for Science Olympiad for at least four hours a day on school days, six hours on the weekend. Someone else studied every day over summer break for Science Olympiad. Every. Single. Day. And usually, it was for hours on end. Yet others who are partnered together get together after school so much that they spend over fifteen hours with each other in just five days outside of school, and not for games, either, but for studying, testing devices, and basically delve into Science Olympiad. Some people spend hours upon hours trying to build devices, fix them, test them, and rebuild them. Some people walk around school carrying binders full of equations and math that nobody but them understands and study every minute they can. And they work so hard… Half their conversations revolve around Science Olympiad, and if you know what Facebook and Google Buzz is, half their posts are about Science Olympiad.

"And then there's competition. You see, the hype that surrounds every minute of this competition is scary to behold. And yet, everyone manages to have fun. That game, Wuah! That game was passed around and around. And some of these witches and wizards, I recognize as fellow Science Olympiad competitors. Zachary Goodman, for instance. He and I were partnered for a few events…back when I still lived in America. You know I only came after fourth year. (A/N: I know earlier I said she lived in the US until she was ten, but now she lived in the US until she was fifteen. Only way to accommodate Science Olympiad.) I would have come to Hogwarts sooner, only Science Olympiad held me prisoner. So anyways, Zach was my partner for a few events. And that girl, Mellyssa Havens? Another one of my partners. We haven't formally acknowledged each other yet. But you know why she got out so early in the first round I played Wuah! in? Because she knew how good I was. And she got nervous. Therefore, she got out. Another one: Cassidy Woods. Jasper Karter. Michael Burton. Some others from other schools that we competed against. Leonard Lockhart. The White twins, Jeffrey and Harris. Veronica Reine. We actually became quite good friends. And we all had to have a temporary anti-magic charm put on us, and all our stuff had to be un-magicked. Which caused a few problems, though not for me, never for me. And usually, not for anyone else. But there always were exceptions. And Zach was my best friend through all that…we even stay at each others' houses during break…why haven't I talked to him yet?

"Anyways, there is also the carefree way everyone is. Yeah, we're uptight about competition and everything, we're paranoid, we're overprotective, we're obsessed—but we still manage to have a ton of fun. I learned so much about so many different things when I was in Science Olympiad…there's school stuff mixed in, extra random material, and all that junk. And it's so interesting, really, and all from Science Olympiad. I guess my point is…Science Olympiad isn't just something we do; it's a way of life. There's so much more than that, and I would love to tell you everything, but let's let that wait until later, when we're back in our suites. There's too much to tell just for one sitting." Phoenix stopped talking. Hermione noticed the radiant look on Phoenix's face as she spoke of Science Olympiad. Incredible. Simply incredible. Suddenly, a cool, dark, but friendly voice sounded behind them.

"Hey, Iris," the voice said. Phoenix turned around and broke out into a huge grin.

"Oh, hey, Zach. I haven't seen you in a while."

"Since Christmas break, to be exact." Hermione looked at the guy behind them on a thestral. His hair was dark brown and slightly wavy, tall, moderately tan skin, and pretty well muscled. His eyes were dark brown, and he gave off the air of being dangerous but loyal.

"Yes, well, I know it's not that long, but still."

"Exactly. Not that long."

"I mean, it's been too long. It's not the same, Iris."

"We're best friends. We were then, and we are now. Nothing's going to change that."

"That's good. I haven't seen you in so long, I was beginning to wonder."

"It's been two months."

"I know, but still."

"IsChase still as perverted as ever?"

"Sadly, yes."

"Why isn't Chase here, anyways? He's smart."

"He got written off for setting off a stink bomb in the girls' bathroom. While I get to be here as a representative. He's jealous."

"I can imagine. He never did behave himself like he should. I'm just here as the one Student Healer. Apparently, I was the best and I would have gone as a representative if they had found someone else as a Student Healer. But they couldn't, so I got to be Healer as opposed to representative."

"Still just as high a ranking, maybe even higher."

"True, true. Do you miss middle school Science Olympiad?"

"Like hell I miss it. But at least I still get to coach it. And at least I get to do high school Science Olympiad. While you're stuck with a bunch of Brits."

"Don't cuss. And the British aren't that bad."

"No, they're not. See, I'm one," Hermione said, interrupting.

"Nice to meet you…who are you?" Zach inquired.

"Hermione Granger, representative of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Zachary Goodman, representative of the Halverson North-Eastern American School of Charms. Iris' best friend, and Chase coming second."

"Question: Why do you call Phoenix 'Iris'?"

"It's the American name for her. Though "Feng Huang" does translate to Phoenix, she picked Iris for her American name."

"You're still calling me Phoenix, though," Phoenix cut in, looking pointedly at Hermione. "Nobody except Americans call me Iris. And I do mean absolutely NOBODY. That includes you, Hermione."

"Ah, still as feisty as ever, I see," Zach joked.

"Be quiet."

"Hey, Iris, shocking new development. Not sure if I should mention in front of… Hermione, though. Why, you ask? It's because it deals with that _really_ secret thing…you know, that one that you were _adamant_ that I keep secret."

"Oh, that, you mean? It's fine, Hermione is one too, she just got tested this morning, but still one, nonetheless."

"Excellent!"

"So what's the shocking new development?"

"I'm one, too! I'm of Nothing, of course."

"Oh, that's great, Zach! I'm so happy for you! Hermione is the final Everything."

"So, only two more to go…"

"Actually, one. I found the other one two years back." (A/N: I know that if you read it like this, it sounds like I made a mathematical error. Trust me, I didn't. There's more…later. Whenever I get to writing it)

"And you never told me?"

"Owls can be intercepted, letters can be mailed wrong, codes can be broken, Floo powder can be traced and questioned, Apparating is blocked on both schools, you _know_ what my guardians are like, so. Okay, I admit, I'm making excuses. I forgot. There, happy?"

"What? The great Iris forgets something? No! No! That's impossible!" Zach cried sarcastically and gloatingly.

"Well, not really, I just didn't mention it to you."

"Whatever. Who is it, then?"

"That blond boy over there."

"Which one? There are about ten million blond boys here."

"For your information, there aren't even ten million people here! And to answer your question: the really white blond one. The one with an iPod stuck in his ear."

"_That_ one? Seems like the least likely person to be one."

"You don't know him, do you?"

"At a guess, I'd say he resembles Draco Malfoy. But probably not him, right?"

"Wrong. That is most definitely Draco Malfoy."

"Ahhh. _Now_ I understand. Quite fitting, really."

"Don't I know it? We're pretty good friends now too."

"Do I still get to play piano with you?"

"Oh, definitely, I wrote quite a few compositions with Draco, he's really good, too."

"I'm just as good as you are on violin! He can't be better than me!"

"He's not. You're a little better—assuming you've been practicing, of course."

"I have."

"Then you should be better than him."

"Which is why I'm going to show Draco up when you suggest that we have a piano competition."

"You're evil."

"Of course, Iris. Didn't you learn anything from hanging out with me and Chase?"

"Chase and me, Zach, Chase and me."

"You and your fanatical grammar infatuation!"

"It's not an infatuation, and it's not fanatical."

"I beg to differ."

"You beg to differ with everything."

"Ain't that right," another voice said behind them. Hermione turned around to see a golden haired wizard with mischievous brown-green eyes.

"Chase!" Phoenix said, delighted. "But—wait—Zach said you weren't supposed to come…"

"I convinced Noah Logan to let me go in his place," Chase said with an evil grin. "So basically, I bribed him with a tiny bottle of Happy Luck. And let's face it, when have I ever followed rules that I didn't want to?"

"Good point. But even so, you have an utterly diabolical mind," Phoenix said. "And, Hermione, if you're wondering what Happy Luck is, it's American slang for Felix Felicis (A/N: Felix Felicis literally translates from Latin to English as Happy Luck)."

"Ah, who's this fine young lady here?" Chase said, looking over Hermione. Zach whacked Chase on his arm at that.

"Owww, Zach, what was that for?"

"No ogling the Children."

"Whatever," Chase said, earning himself another punch. "Who are you again?"

"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione said.

"Hey, Chase, you realize we've found all of them now?" Zach grinned.

"Aw, darn it. I was really hoping."

"Sorry, you're dreams are dashed. So here, we've got one confidant and three Children," Phoenix said.

"Where's the third one?" Chase asked.

"He's the white-blond one with the iPod stuck in his ears," Phoenix replied.

"Ah. Looks for all the world like Draco Malfoy, assuming he grew up."

"And that would be because that is who he is," Phoenix said, a smirk written across her face.

"DARN IT! I wanted to have a go at Hermione. And you, but that's impossible."

"What is it with you guys? This is the second time just TODAY that someone has said that!"

"Really? Who was it?"

"Blaise Zabini, but don't you dare go all _bleaahh_ on me."

"Wait, Robert and Pierre are talking," Hermione interjected.

"Speaking of Pierre, I need to tell him to get his roster changed from "Logan, Noah" to "Armstrong, Chase". Then I won't be called by the wrong name anymore!"

"Right…you go do that. I'm going to listen to Robert and Pierre," Phoenix said.

"…and so now, I want you to get in groups of two so we can do the activity. You pick your partner and STICK WITH THEM." Robert said severely. "Then, go link arms so we'll know you're partnered and come stand right in front of us. Then we'll give you more instructions. All right, get off those steeds and partner up!" everyone dismounted and began milling around, finding their partners.

"Partner me, Iris?" Zach asked.

"Do I have a choice?" Phoenix sighed.

"No," came the blatant reply. Chase laughed. Phoenix grimaced, and Hermione simply stared. Ginny came over and asked Hermione to partner, to which Hermione agreed. Harry and Ron ended up partnered, Blaise and Draco, and the Greengrass sisters. Chase went off to try to partner Cassidy Woods and ended up with Jasper Karter, a freckly, scrawny orange-haired wizard with abnormally large ears and nose. Chase then went off to as many partners as possible, and begged them to trade, while Jasper simply looked resigned. Finally, he got someone to trade partners and ended up with a rather cute girl with long auburn hair. Chase walked over to the Hogwarts group plus Zach, dragging his partner along, and smirked at them.

"And you said I couldn't get a hot girl, Zach!" Chase said.

"I never said that. I merely suggested that your getting a hot girl isn't the most likely thing to happen. And if you did, that's great for you," Zach retaliated.

"Ah…you have left me speechless, my great friend. And now, aren't you wondering who this lovely young lady is?" Chase asked, drawing the auburn-haired girl closer.

"Er…should we be?" Harry muttered to Hermione under his breath. Hermione laughed. Chase threw her a dirty look, and then he proceeded as if nothing had happened.

"This, my worthy friends, is Fiona Davies. She is from the…what school are you from again?" Chase asked.

"I never told you in the first place—yet. And it's the Conan North American Institute of Sorcery," Fiona said smartly, her green-gray eyes flashing. Zach leaned over and whispered something in Phoenix's ear, at which she grinned slightly and then elbowed him. Zach laughed, and directed his attention back to Chase, who looked acquiescent and sighed at this. He said loudly to Fiona, "They've been best friends since…well, forever. Since Iris moved to America from China, at any rate, which was about fifteen years ago."

"That's…a long time to be friends."

"I know. Iris was only two. And yet, she can speak Chinese completely fluently, know everything about Chinese culture and custom, and is basically…Chinese. It's amazing. And then she and Zach got into Science Olympiad…you don't even want to know how much time they spent on that. Literally, after four years, if you count all the time they studied, went to Science Olympiad meetings, built and tested devices, Zach spent over five thousand hours doing Science Olympiad, Iris over seven thousand. She just had a few more events than Zach did, or else they'd be about equal. Heck, I know days on weekends when they did nothing except studying and doing other stuff for Science Olympiad. And they'd study all through summer break, too, anywhere from four to seven hours. If you count the competitions and the days they spent on the Nationals trips, even more, since they'd go for about five or six days at a time. That's anywhere between four hundred eighty hours to five hundred seventy six spent on Nationals trips. And then there's all that time Zach spent coaching Science Olympiad after he was too old to compete. Oh, and high school Science Olympiad, another thousand hours… that didn't take as much time because Zach already knew everything, bet Iris did too… Iris would have done all that, only she transferred to Hogwarts. That's about…let's see…fifteen thousand hours put together. That's unimaginable. Fiona, have you ever dreamed of spending so much time on just one thing over the span of only four or seven years?" Fiona shook her head, her eyes wide. "Of course, I did Science Olympiad too, or else they would have killed me, and after I was dead, they would kill me again, but I only spent about six hundred hours total during four years. That was like bare minimum for events and medaling."

"Thank you, Chase, for sharing my life story with a complete and total stranger," Phoenix said loudly, obviously irritated. "I know I'm awesome like that, but you don't need to tell everything to someone you barely even know."

"Sorry. It's so impossible, though. I mean, seriously, Iris, you spent over seven thousand hours, and that was when you didn't even coach! In high school years, of course. But still…I liked Science Olympiad and sure, I spent some time on it, but for you… it was most of your life. You and Zach both."

"No it wasn't. Zach and I were still the top of our grade, and we did violin and piano, and he did sports, I did art museum exhibits, orchestra, and math tournaments. Science Olympiad was just our main focus. Listen, I don't want to talk about this right now. Change the subject. Please."

"Sure, fine, whatever." At this point, Robert and Pierre started talking.

"All right, now everyone. You can all conjure up pens, pencils, and paper, I presume? Yes, of course ya'll can. Well, go with your partners and take note of everything you see, hear, smell, and otherwise. We'll do that for the rest of the day. At six o'clock, get back to this meeting place. Take your thestrals and horses with you. They'll know where to go, whatever. And then, all ya'll have homework. Due tomorrow. And I'll tell each pair what their homework is. Go now, shoo." Pierre made a shooing motion with his hands, laughing. Everyone sloughed off in different directions. The ones who seemed the most enthusiastic were Phoenix and Zach. They ran off toward some deep obscure part of the forest, chatting and laughing, their thestrals trotting behind them. Hermione thought that she heard several words that sounded like "ecology", "disease detectives", "ornithology", "fossils", "Nats", "Regionals", "State", and a few others. Ginny and Hermione just wandered around, taking notes and losing sight of everyone else.

It was a fairly pleasant day, and somehow, when it was time for lunch, their thestrals were carrying it on their backs. More magic, Hermione supposed. Well, that was all right with her. Ginny was very pleasant company, and they enjoyed themselves immensely. When six o'clock rolled around, they mounted the thestrals, and they flew back to the small clearing. It looked like most of the groups were already back, and all of the ones from Hogwarts were, though it looked like they were all still on their steeds' backs. As soon as they landed, Robert came up to them and said, "Finally! Ya'll are the last ones. Stay on your thestrals and pay attention." Ginny and Hermione looked at each other and Pierre began talking immediately.

"Now that everyone is kind enough to join us, here is your homework assignment—write a paper that is at least two thousand words, and then a poem no shorter than four stanzas. You should all be able to do that."

"And now, give your steeds the kick off and we're heading back!" Robert yelled. At once, a legion of thestrals and Abraxan horses lifted into the air, hooves kicking, tails and manes flying. It was a wondrous sight, and then Phoenix decided to jump off her thestral and fly by herself. She conjured up those wings again, and flew with them. Her thestral kicked and flew along with her. Icefire appeared at some point, and Phoenix and Icefire engaged in some kind of swirling dance. Hermione smiled.

After they returned to the dome and ate, they all went back to their suites, while Zach, Chase, and Fiona accompanied the Hogwarts lot, hanging towards the back, whike Draco and Blaise were at the front.

"Yeah, Iris is our one hope of passing this homework assignment," Chase said. "Besides, it's a reunion of sorts. Fiona, you're my partner, and we will sweep away everyone else's essays and poems."

"Don't bet on it," Phoenix retorted. "If you're relying on me, I will make sure yours isn't as good as mine."

"Bah! I forgot how competitive Science Olympians are! Even after Science Olympiad is over for them!"

"Never again, Chase, never again," Zach laughed.

"Wish Stephen was here. He would have loved this," Phoenix murmured so softly that Hermione was sure only Zach and her could hear, looking slightly downcast. Zach patted Phoenix's shoulder. She sighed, and turned away. Hermione looked at Phoenix closely. _Who was Stephen?_ she wondered. Just then, their elevator dinged open and they walked out onto the beautiful hallway. Zach had his arm around Phoenix now, and she was looking down, seemingly not aware of anything. The entire group was chattering noisily as they made their way toward the suite, not aware that one in their group was depressed. Phoenix looked so sad for some reason, and Hermione wanted to find out why. As they entered their suite, Zach murmured something to Phoenix, who sighed and nodded regretfully, pulling his arm off her. They made their way to the couches—and Phoenix collapsed.

It was a whirlwind of colors, pain blasting through Phoenix's entire body, like she was being stabbed with knives, like the Cruciatus Curse at full blast. She was lightheaded, and her thoughts were detached. She could remember only one time when there had been physical pain this horrible…no, not possible…or was it? She gasped as a lightning bolt of pain shot through her. This was almost exactly like that time! It had to be! And…there, at the edge of her consciousness, a tiny nudge, a familiar sensation…it had to be! It was!

Hermione watched anxiously as Phoenix writhed and twitched on the ground. The rest of the group watched, dumbstruck, but all with real concern on their faces. Zach had dropped to his knees, probing her. Suddenly, her eyes flew open.

"Alive! Alive!" she shrieked. "Stephen's alive!"


	18. Chapter 18: Unexpected

A/N: To everyone who thought the Science Olympiad stuff was too much—my friend wrote that. I promised him, so he wrote it out and I edited the grammar and spelling (he sucks at Language). So he wrote it. The Science Olympiad stuff will crop up from time to time, and another chapter or two or three dedicated to it (because my friend insists on writing one on Science Olympiad Nationals and it will take some space.) Just for clarification: Stephen will also be an important part of this and is based on the guy that I like, Zach is based on the guy who wrote most of the last chapter Chase is based on another guy friend, Phoenix is based on a little bit of everyone in Science Olympiad, and Fiona is based on my best girl friend.

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

…_Phoenix collapsed. _

_ It was a whirlwind of colors, pain blasting through Phoenix's entire body, like she was being stabbed with knives, like the Cruciatus Curse at full blast. She was lightheaded, and her thoughts were detached. She could remember only one time when there had been physical pain this horrible…no, not possible…or was it? She gasped as a lightning bolt of pain shot through her. This was almost exactly like that time! It had to be! And…there, at the edge of her consciousness, a tiny nudge, a familiar sensation…it had to be! It was!_

_ Hermione watched anxiously as Phoenix writhed and twitched on the ground. The rest of the group watched, dumbstruck, but all with real concern on their faces. Zach had dropped to his knees, probing her. Suddenly, her eyes flew open. _

_ "Alive! Alive!" she shrieked. "Stephen's alive!"_

**ACTUAL STORY**

Zach's mouth fell open. Hermione felt sure that whatever he had expected, it was not this. And Draco looked surprised too…like he knew what was going on. Then Zach closed his mouth and lifted Phoenix to a sitting position.

"Iris, that's not possible," Zach said gently. "You just had some type of seizure. Don't move too much, you'll hurt yourself." He wrapped his arms around Phoenix, who struggled wholeheartedly.

"It wasn't a seizure! I promise you, it wasn't! Stephen was there! He was nearly in my mind again! I felt it!"

"Don't, Phoenix. He's dead. Deal with it."

"He's not. He was just there! And I can tell the difference between spirits and actual living creatures, thank you very much! I'm telling you, Stephen is alive!"

"_Sleep_."

"Don't you dare use your hypnotizing magic on me, Zachary! I have them too!"

"_Sleep, let your dreams carry your spirit far, find your answers and return to me, may you sleep in peace. Rest, let the colors of your soul swirl, all shall see and wonder and come back to me, rest in peace._" The words fell from Zach's lips like petals from a rose, full of mystical power. It was hypnotic and almost completely irresistible. Hermione felt herself getting sleepy, even though she was not the one the spell had been aimed at. In Zach's arms, Phoenix breathed out gently, obviously asleep. Zach looked troubled as he pressed her limp form to his body and lifted her up.

"She'll stay with me tonight, if that's okay with you," Zach said, directing his comment to the Hogwarts people, who all nodded. "Chase, come on, we gotta leave. This is not something that can wait." And, so saying, Zach pushed open the door, Phoenix in his arms, and left. Chase followed, with Fiona close at his heels.

Hermione watched them leave. Then she turned to the rest of the group.

"Anyone have _any_ idea who Stephen is?" she asked.

"No," said Harry.

"Who?" said Ron.

"No idea," said Ginny.

"Never heard of him," said Daphne.

"No clue," said Astoria.

"I wish I knew," said Blaise.

"I think I might know," said Draco. Harry whirled on Draco.

"Oh, yeah, like she'd ever tell you anything, you low crawling dirt bag!"

"She probably told me more than she's ever told you, Pothead!"

"By making her drink Veritaserum? Or using the Cruciatus Curse? Or maybe the Imperius? Or—or—did you threaten her?"

"I would never do any of those things, Potter! Maybe it's your brain that needs an intelligence check, because right now, I see that you have an IQ of 4!"

"You would do those things to any Gryffindor! Because you hate all of them!"

"Potter, if your tiny little brain can't handle the fact that I may have friends in Gryffindor, you can just shut the hell up right now."

"Listen, Ferret, I know you, and I know that you don't care two whits about _any_ Gryffindor."

` "Oh yeah? Well, then, I can infer that you don't care two whits about any Slytherin either, so we're even."

"Nah, Malfoy, we're never even."

"I'm getting tired of this. _Incendio_!" Malfoy yelled pointing his wand at Harry feet. Harry squealed, much to the delight of Malfoy and Zabini. Harry danced a little bit around the fire, until he realized how ridiculous he looked, and tried to put it out with his robes, which failed. And then he remembered he had a wand. Soon, the flames were gone, but Harry's face was a mask of anger and fury. Pointing his wand at Malfoy, he said, "_Tarantella_!" and attempted to jinx him. But Malfoy had been sparring with Hermione, so Harry was no match. Wordlessly, he repelled the jinx with a flick of his wand and cast another spell, wordlessly too. Harry was thrown backwards. He scrambled to his feet and yelled, "_Stupefy!_" which Malfoy blocked with unnerving ease. And then Malfoy did something truly frightening. He literally _glowed_ and as Harry tried to cast another spell, and Harry's wand fizzed and died out, like there was no more magic inside of it, while Malfoy blazed like a star. It hurt to even look at him, he was so bright. And honestly, truthfully, it scared Hermione. Everyone was watching; nobody managed to do anything, all their magic was stopped cold. Harry cowered under the light. Finally, the glow dimmed. Malfoy threw one last look of contempt at Harry and stalked off to his room. Hermione looked after him, worried, but felt that it would look too odd for the others to see her running off to Malfoy. Therefore, she only walked over to Harry, who was in shock from Malfoy's stunning display of power.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded quickly, then scrambled to his feet.

"That…that bastard! That _had_ to be Dark magic!" Harry yelled.

"Ditto, mate," Ron agreed. Hermione whirled on them.

"Maybe it's not, How do you know? Give him a chance, all right? Maybe he's not the same person," Hermione said. Harry stared at her.

"What's wrong with you?" he muttered, and ran off toward his room. Hermione's head was blazing, and she sent a telepathic curse to Harry and Ron, and then returned to her room too. Ginny followed her. Once they were actually in her room, Ginny began babbling.

"OMG, did you see that? Amazing! And scary. Oh God. I thought he was hurt. And if he's that strong when he's hurt, then what can he do when he's at full strength? Ahhh… I bet Narcissa won't be too happy about overexertion…"

"Narcissa! Oh my God! I completely forgot. See you later, Ginny, I've gotta go see Narcissa for a few minutes. Bye!" And Hermione drew out some Floo powder, threw it into the flames, stepped into the emerald green pyre, and shouted "Draco's bedroom, Malfoy Manor!" at which point she was whisked away.

Stumbling out of the fireplace, she coughed a little as some ash went down her throat, but otherwise, she was fine. Draco's bedroom still looked oddly sterilized, like a hospital room. Narcissa wasn't there at the moment, so she sat on Draco's bed and waited. Fingering the soft silk sheets, she felt some dried blood still on them. Looking at the blood, it was streaked with silver just like she knew it would be. Suddenly, Narcissa burst into the room, looking highly alarmed. But when she saw Hermione, she visibly relaxed.

"Oh, hello, dear. I had thought perhaps you were an intruder. No one comes into Malfoy Manor without being seen, so. Yes, yes…how is Draco?"

"The phoenix tears helped him a lot and he's okay, but if he needs more phoenix tears he won't be able to get them, at least not tonight. Phoenix had some type of spasm and isn't even at our suite at the moment…she's with some old friends, because one of them magicked her to sleep after she had the seizure and shouted something about someone named Stephen."

"Oh no. She is all right, isn't she? I have taken quite a liking to her, at least. I don't know who this Stephen is, but it is apparent that he is quite important to her. Well, let's worry about that later, I have some things to give you. Come, come." And so saying, Narcissa swept out of the room, leaving Hermione to trail after her, walking quickly. Again, after what seemed like an endless maze of hallways and corridors, they finally arrived at where, apparently, Narcissa had been heading. It felt as if they had been walking for hours. Narcissa placed her hand on the door, spoke a few words, and the door glowed soft silver, and opened. Narcissa walked inside, and Hermione quickly followed.

It was a storage room. Hermione saw that as soon as she stepped into the cool, airy chamber. But Narcissa seemed to think of each item as a precious jewel, looking over them briefly and tenderly. She stopped at a large, ornately carved box, with jewels glittering on the surface. She picked it up gently, and held it for a moment, then gave it to Hermione, who received it gratefully. It was much heavier than she expected, large though it was, so she staggered under the weight of it. Narcissa beckoned her toward a fire, which had somehow sprung up on one side of the room.

"I want to give you as much time as possible to look through the contents of that box," Narcissa said softly. "Go, and read through it as much as you can." Hermione nodded, and hurried toward the fire, which was already blazing emerald. Stepping into the flames, she called out her destination and vanished. Narcissa watched her go, and watched her one true physical link with her son disappear with her.

Hermione stumbled out of the fire into her bedroom at the Summit, weighted down by the box. She realized that it had been two hours since she'd left. Unwilling to waste any more time, she set the box down, unclasped the clasp, and opened it. The contents were covered in green silk, but there was a not pinned to the top in elegant handwriting.

_Dearest Hermione,_

_ I thought that now that you hold my only son's heart and soul, you may as well know a little about his life, and just how wounded and scarred his spirit is. In this box, you will find out things that you wish you had never known, and others that may help you help Draco. For I am deeply worried about him, and the abuse he has suffered at his father's hands, but I hope you can help. If not, that is not something I can control.. I can only pray and hope that you will help him._

_Love Always,_

_Narcissa A. B. Malfoy_

Hermione smiled to herself. She would _always_ help Draco if possible; Narcissa didn't need to worry about that. She put aside the note, slowly uncovered the contents of the box, and gasped at what lay there, in the green folds of vibrant silk.

Nestled in the box were books. Diaries, in fact. There were letters, too, but mostly diaries and journals. Hermione took the first one out. It dated back to when about Draco was three years old. Flipping it open to the first page, she began reading. Even then, Draco's handwriting had a sort of grace to it, and though a few words were misspelled, his writing was very advanced for his age.

_5/25/1996 _

_I am very happy today. My father, was for once, very happy with me. I controlled something with my mind! I meant to, and it wasn't an accident. Father says that's very rare, for someone to be able to control their powers without training. But I did! And he is so proud…for the first time today since I first learned how to ride a broomstick, he rode with me. Mother laughed today…it's so rare that she does! Mother smells like flowers and water and sunlight. I love Mother, she is so kind to me, always._

Hermione read that entry, and then moved on, reading and dismissing most of them as just ordinary life, until she found one in September, and she gasped.

_9/29/1996_

_I hurt everywhere. Yesterday, Father came back from his business trip in a bad mood. I asked him how it went, and he did not answer. I nagged him a little more, and he yelled at me. I became frightened, so I backed away—straight into a vase, which fell and broke. Father was so mad. He had me take off my shirt, and then he got a stick and started hitting me. It hurt so bad…I cried in pain from the first stroke. I saw my blood on the floor. It scared me very much. He got a horsewhip, then, when I begged him to stop, and whipped me hard. I felt like my back had exploded. Finally, when it stopped, I was curled into a ball. He's hit me before, a lot, but never like this… I crawled up to my room, because Father wouldn't help me and Mother wasn't there. When I finally got up there, I blacked out. Mother came later and talked to me. She says I lost a lot of blood, and that's a bad thing. Blaise came today, and he tried to help. I think he was scared when he saw my cuts. At least I know he cares. I couldn't move, I was so sore and hurt. Blaise mostly talked to me. He's my best friend. Hopefully, it won't happen again. _

Hermione was frozen, shocked at the blatant way this entry was written. She could almost imagine little Draco screaming in pain as his father's whip came down on him over and over again. And it scared her. As she read the next entries, she found that they often contained mentions or descriptions of beatings. Blaise was there too, quite often. After reading through two diaries as two years worth, something very interesting came up.

_9/11/1998_

_ This has been a very interesting three days. Father has taken me to America to oversee a school. I went around the neighborhood while he dealt with that. And then I met a very pretty Asian girl my age, who says her name is Iris or Phoenix. She says I can call her either one. I think I like Phoenix better. She says that only Americans call her Iris anyways. She told me that she is Chinese, and then she introduced me to a few friends of hers. There's Zach, an exciting little boy, and he's very adventurous, but he likes science. There's someone named Chase, who loves running and dogs. There's a girl called Cassidy who is very nice and loves animals. A girl named Mellyssa, who is half Japanese and likes reading. There's Noah, a nice little boy with very red hair, almost like the Weasleys. And then there was this little Korean boy called Stephen. He called himself "Canasian", so I guess that's what I'll call him. According to him, both his parents are Korean, and he was born in Korea, but he moved to Canada three days after he was born and moved to America when he was four, so he is the unofficial Canadian. He's very interesting. It's like he's hiding something all the time, but I don't know what. He and Phoenix aren't siblings, but they act like it. I like Stephen, and he and Phoenix are very smart. But he's so serious and funny at the same time, and he has so much talent and potential, and I honestly think that he scares some people sometimes. And it turns out that all of them are witches and wizards too! How very delightful. That is wonderful; I promised I would owl all of them, especially Zach and Chase and Phoenix and Stephen. Out of them all, only Zach and Mellyssa have an owl, so those owls will have some hard work! My owl, Osiris, after the Egyptian god, will be very busy from now on. But he's kind of old. Father said he's getting me a new one and I'm naming it Narcoblix. The two days afterward, I played with the foursome of Phoenix, Zach, Chase, and Stephen. The others weren't there. It was almost like a special group, only it wasn't. I enjoyed it though. And try as I might, I can't get Phoenix and Stephen out of my head. I'm definitely going to owl them!_

Hermione breathed out. So that was the first time they met…and Stephen was in there too. She stopped reading the diary entries and began looking through the letters and diary entries, riffling through them for any sign of Stephen. But oddly, there was none. Hermione riffled through the diaries for any sign of Stephen again, but there was nothing. However, there were quite a few entries about Phoenix…the first time she came to Hogwarts…her rambling about Science Olympiad…how happy he was that she was there, one more friend, other than Blaise…the compositions they wrote together…the times she'd been to his manor…the way Blaise drooled after her…when she helped him discover his Child status when he was seven… her constant talking about her friends…and yet there was absolutely nothing about Stephen—not a mention of letters, no mention of Phoenix speaking of him, not his name, not even anything that remotely sounded like him. This Stephen character was getting more and more mysterious, shadier and shadier. Who _was_ he? And why did he matter so much? Hermione realized how tired she was, and looking at the clock, she realized it was 2 o'clock in the morning already, and they had only one more day of sightseeing before the actual Summit. And so thinking, she cleared up all the diaries and letters, put them back in the box, and fell into a deep sleep.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I'll try to update more often, until May 30th or so, when we're going on a missionary trip with no computers. No. Computers. For two months. So that'll be a long break…hopefully, you'll stay faithful to the story until I continue posting.


	19. Chapter 19: Midnight Chats

A/N: Got onto a computer…and wrote this thing in an hour. It was the first thing I did. I had to go read over the last chapter because I forgot some stuff. And the whole missionary two month thing…oops. I was distracted. It was supposed to be from the thirtieth to the twenty fourth . This is one of my not-so-good chapters because I was rushing, and the style is a little odd.

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

_Hermione breathed out. So that was the first time they met…and Stephen was in there too. She stopped reading the diary entries and began looking through the letters and diary entries, riffling through them for any sign of Stephen. But oddly, there was none. Hermione riffled through the diaries for any sign of Stephen again, but there was nothing. However, there were quite a few entries about Phoenix…the first time she came to Hogwarts…her rambling about Science Olympiad…how happy he was that she was there, one more friend, other than Blaise…the compositions they wrote together…the times she'd been to his manor…the way Blaise drooled after her…when she helped him discover his Child status when he was seven… her constant talking about her friends…and yet there was absolutely nothing about Stephen—not a mention of letters, no mention of Phoenix speaking of him, not his name, not even anything that remotely sounded like him. This Stephen character was getting more and more mysterious, shadier and shadier. Who was he? And why did he matter so much? Hermione realized how tired she was, and looking at the clock, she realized it was 2 o'clock in the morning already, and they had only one more day of sightseeing before the actual Summit. And so thinking, she cleared up all the diaries and letters, put them back in the box, and fell into a deep sleep._

**ACTUAL STORY**

Phoenix dreamed. She dreamed of Stephen, his bright laugh ringing out, his voice talking softly, his studying, his lecturing, and how she and Stephen would talk for hours about things that at their age, only she and he understood, and how they would somehow connect with each other. And then he died. Or so the others though thought. But she knew that somewhere, Stephen was alive, no matter what the others said. Because she knew of the First Choice. Perhaps not well, but alive. And she would do anything to get him back.

Hermione awoke at the crack of dawn, trying to fight off sleep. In her life, nothing was simple anymore. And she didn't know what to do for Draco or Phoenix. Draco had to be so terrified of his father, and Phoenix was suddenly having random and apparently hallucinating seizures. What could she do? Harry and Ron were lucky; they weren't the bridge that spanned a gap. Sighing, she dressed and did her normal morning routine.

Hermione was distracted all that day; even during sightseeing, when they were looking out at the spectacular sea views. Phoenix returned, but she also looked preoccupied. She looked downcast too, as if someone important had just died. She kept pressing three fingers to the inside of her left arm. Hermione remembered that there was a huge scar there, white and puckered. Phoenix had never let anyone heal it with magic, even though Madam Pomfrey had asked to time and time again. Draco, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying himself. He swaggered through the throng of people, his fine silk robes thrown out behind him, while Blaise seemed to be watching Phoenix. Zach was preoccupied as well, trying to talk to Phoenix and Chase, while Fiona hung around Chase, reading. Hermione was impressed by that behavior. Though she herself did it all the time, not many other people did, least to say Ron and Harry. The Weasleys were there too. Earlier that morning, Hermione had introduced Phoenix to the Weasleys. Phoenix had smiled wanly, then dove back onto her current moody self. Hermione couldn't understand. Even Draco seemed to be having a much better time, even though his father would probably kill him sooner or later. And so, the day passed in a daze, and Hermione found that she couldn't remember anything clearly.

Dinner came and passed, and though nothing important happened. Phoenix continually rubbed the scar on her left arm, as though there was something special about it. Finally, Phoenix just dashed out of the dining hall, leaving everyone else there and muttering a hurried apology. When they returned to the suite later, they found Phoenix playing something on the piano, a complicated, beautiful, haunting song, which she had obviously composed herself. Phoenix looked so depressed, so stressed, that Hermione felt doubly sorry for the girl. She didn't seem to notice that all of the Hogwarts plus Chase, Fiona, and Zach were all watching her. Tears were dripping down her face as she played, the haunting notes hanging in the air. And suddenly, words manifested in Hermione's mind, obviously Phoenix's voice singing.

_I am calling  
Spirit brother  
My immortal soul trapped  
Am I here or am I there with you?  
Where is my heart but far away,  
Drumming on the icy walls  
Where you are prisoner__?_

_You, my friend, my dearest brother,  
Doors of Death be open,  
Spirits let him fly through  
Where is this that I can't see?_

_Spirit brother  
My burning fire  
Crumbles into ashes,  
Do I harbor  
Deep desire  
To see you once again?  
My friend and brother,  
Where, where are you?_

_Dearest friend of my heart, my soul  
My angel, my servant  
My equal, higher and lower,  
You are all of that.  
And though the days pass in mourning  
I swear I shall not forget._

_Swirling ashes, whirling dust,  
Rising in the darkness  
Butterfly's wing shimmering  
Through the haze of dark gray.  
Are you hiding there,  
Where I cannot find nor see you?_

_Tiny flower, blood-rose growing  
Take my life-blood.  
Give me my brother._

_Chill wind sweeping through me,  
Why do you hide?  
My brother, I cannot find you  
Can you see me?_

_Come back, my dearest brother  
Come back, friend of my heart.  
Come back, to where you are loved,  
Come back, my brother._

Hermione was struck by the beauty and sadness of this song. And then there was the blood-rose part…Hermione had done a project on it before, and there was no flower more deadly, no flower more powerful, no flower more healing. To acquire it, you had to give it your life blood—the entire natural amount. Even Blood-Replenishing potions didn't work fast enough. There was also a magical circle around it, twenty feet in diameter, within which only one person could penetrate—nothing else. No magic, no extra people…nothing except a knife and their body and the clothes on their back. Everything else would be hurled out of the circle. There were currently seven blood-roses in the world, hiding under cavernous, icy, dangerous depths, where icicles and shattering ice under your feet might kill you any second. Six of the seven's ice walls were surrounded by volcanoes. The last one, most dangerous one, was surrounded by the unknown. Thousands of witches and wizards had gone after the blood-rose. All had died, or failed. As far as history could tell, even if the person were to get past, the natural defenses, no one had ever survived giving their blood to the flower, since even after they gave blood, it took a full hour for the flower to bloom completely. And it couldn't be just any blood, either. It had to be the blood of an innocent, who had never meant to kill, nor maim. And of the people who found the flower, precious few were innocents. But what made so many people covet it was that, when full bloomed after blood, it could cure anything, give you much extended life, drop leaves of diamond, and the flower itself could bring back the dead. However, there was no way for it to be picked if it were not fully grown. And if it wasn't picked within two minutes of its blooming, it would revert to its young stage and go through the entire process again. It was extremely hardy, extremely hard to get to, and no one yet had succeeded in picking one. Phoenix obviously wanted Stephen back badly…but how far was she willing to go? Would she kill herself to bring him back? Or would she simply give her life to the blood flower and die within its circle, one more life given to the bloodthirsty flower? Or was that part of the song really, just another line? Yes…that was probably it.

Hermione shifted from one foot to another, while Phoenix played, on and on, not the same song, but other equally beautiful and terrifying songs. One about death being a side-step, another about never enough time, another about laughter and ultimate death, another about torture and pain, another about nature and the feeling of never letting go, and yet another about souls. Phoenix finally finished her recital, and for the first time seemed to notice the hoard of people watching her. She dipped her head stiffly, then ran to her room while Hermione watched helplessly. Zach shook his head sadly, and he followed her, pacing his footsteps. Chase didn't go, however; he merely stayed with Fiona and watched them leave, sorrow and regret clouding his eyes.

_Phoenix's POV_

He was _there_. She could feel it, there on the edge of her mind, just out of reach. Where was he? Would she _ever_ find out? She had to…her brother, her friend, her spirit half…would the torture never end? Hadn't they made her suffer enough? Please, please, please…stop, make her forget him, or better yet, get him back…they had already cursed her with never-ending pain, what more do they want? They took him away, HELP, SOMEONE!

_End of Phoenix's POV_

Zach was playing piano now. He was good, beautifully, terrifyingly good, and Hermione had tears in her eyes from listening to it. It was a song that sang of sadness, of all things beautiful that wither, and he played better than Draco. Speaking of which, Hermione wasn't sure how well he was doing. Sighing, she left the piano room and went to Draco's room, where he was sitting on the bed, head in hands. Closing the door softly behind her, she murmured a soft hello. He looked up. Draco looked worn, tired. Every drop of strength seemed to have been sapped from his limbs.

"I know who this Stephen is, I've heard Phoenix talk about him so many times, I've seen him so many times, I wrote so many letters to him…"

"But Draco, I looked through all your diary entries and letters, and there wasn't a single mention of him except when you were seven…" Draco's eyes suddenly blazed as Hermione spoke.

"You LOOKED through my things? Without ASKING me? What type of person does that? You say you love me, but OBVIOUSLY you don't trust me enough to come clean. That stuff was personal! Even my past entries. _Especially_ my past entries. I wrote those down in private so that no one could see them, not so a nosy know-it-all can read it at her leisure! Stay away from my stuff! It's mine!" Hermione backed up a little and ran out of the room. She hadn't thought about how Draco might feel about her going through his memories, his private thoughts. She vowed to herself to never read Draco's diary entries again unless absolutely necessary. Phoenix would probably also get pissed off at her. The only good thing was that she'd gotten another clue about Stephen. But she had to talk to Phoenix. She had a feeling that Phoenix knew way more about the Nothing/Everything stuff than she was letting on. And she needed to go see Ron and Harry to see if they were all right. And to tell them her feelings for Draco. It just wasn't right to keep them in the dark anymore. So she went off to Harry's room and knocked on the door. Harry looked out, disgruntled.

"Hey 'Mione. Come in," Harry said, smiling when he saw her. Hermione entered the room and saw that Ron was there too. She sat on the bed and faced Harry and Ron. She breathed out. Where did she start?

"Okay, I wanted to talk to you about Phoenix. I just don't know what to do! She's so… distant now! And I really want to help her, but I can't…Can you guys help?"

"Of course, 'Mione, we want to help her as much as you do," Ron said.

"Okay, then. Harry, what about you?"

"Definitely. I can't stand to see her like this."

"All right, then, you two, I have a plan to help her. But it's going to take a lot of work."

"So? It'll be worth it. So come on, tell us."

"All right, but I'm only telling your respective parts in it. Because it needs to be separate. And I want you to promise me that you won't tell each other. On our friendship."

"We solemnly swear that under no circumstances unless instructed specifically by the mastermind, Hermione Jean Granger, will we reveal any part of the plan to anyone else, be it friend or foe. This we swear on our friendship," Harry and Ron chorused. Hermione nodded.

"Okay, then, Harry first." Harry nodded and leaned over while Hermione whispered in his ear. A slow smile spread across his face as Hermione whispered out her plan. When she was done, Harry leaned back.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," he said. Ron came over then, and Hermione told him his part. Ron burst out laughing after a few minutes.

"I love this plan," he said after she finished. Hermione smiled wanly.

"Okay, then, I've got to go now, I'm going to go see Phoenix."

"'Kay, bye, 'Mione," Ron said. Hermione left their room with a sense of great accomplishment. But even as she thought over it, she knew that there was so much more than what she had just done, so much more that needed to be done before she could consider this finished. So she walked slowly to Phoenix's room. She dear god hoped that she was alone in there, that Zach wasn't there. Her prayers went unanswered. As soon as she walked into the room, she saw the boy sitting cross-legged on the bed next to Phoenix, who looked utterly miserable. Zach looked up as soon as she walked in.

"Hey, ever heard of knocking?" he snarled. Phoenix looked up too, and put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay," she said. "Hermione is welcome here whenever she likes. Actually, I rather enjoy her company. But yes, Hermione, Zach is right. You should consider knocking before you barge into someone's room."

"Erm…sorry."

"It's quite all right," Phoenix said. "It's just…well, there are more things about this than you can imagine."

"I can imagine…or not."

"Oh, haha, very funny," Zach said, grinning slightly.

"No, seriously. But yeah…I guess."

"Okay what do you want?" Zach asked.

"What?"

"You want something…or else you wouldn't have come in here."

"Maybe I just wanted to see if Phoenix was all right, hmm? Ever thought of that? But yeah, you're right, I did come to ask something."

"I knew it," Zach growled. "I am highly intuitive and absolutely brilliant, in case you didn't know that."

"I didn't. You don't exactly look the part of "highly intuitive and absolutely brilliant". At all," Hermione grinned.

"Can we just get back to whatever Hermione wanted?" Phoenix spoke up tiredly.

"Yeah, that's right. Mmm-hmm, Hermione, see how you wasted time?" Zach said severely, but Hermione could see the sparkle of laughter and good humor in his eyes. So she laughed.

"Yes, all right. Okay, Phoenix, what is it with you and this guy name Stephen?" Hermione blurted out before she thought about it. Phoenix's head jerked back up

"That is not your business."

"On the contrary, it is completely my business."

"How?"

" I am your friend, and I need to know what is up with you and him to know how to help you."

"I don't need your help. I have Zach."

"What about Chase?"

"Chase doesn't remember Stephen."

"How can he not?"

"That is also not your business."

"There's something wrong with this guy, isn't there?"

"No! There was—is-absolutely nothing wrong with Stephen. He was—is—sweet, good, kind, smart, talented, artistic…" Phoenix trailed off.

"Hermione, get yourself out of our business. And Iris, he is frickin' dead. You've got to deal with that."

"He is not. Not by any means."

"Ach. Whatever. Believe whatever you like."

"I will, Zach. And, Hermione, I have one thing to say to you. You are a know it all, nosy goody two shoes that has no business sticking your nose into other people's business! I never _asked_ you anything about this, I never _said_ that I needed your help, and if you could take your big fat nose out of other people's business for two seconds, maybe you could see that we don't _like_ your big fat nose in our business!" Hermione stepped back. She had never heard Phoenix so full of vitriol. Nothing ever fazed her, nothing ever made her truly angry—except, apparently, this. Hermione stepped out of the room slowly, then turned around and rushed away.

Holy crap. Why was everyone so against her trying to help? Draco was against it, Phoenix was against it, Zach was against it…and then she considered what they had said. Did they really consider her that much of a know it all, a nosy goody two shoes? It was unbearable. Perhaps she should change…but then she remembered that someone once said to her, "When people do not accept everything you do, but most things, and you know that you are being true to yourself, that is when you know you are accepted into the world." And so, she turned her back on her doubts and continued with her plan.

The next three days before the meetings passed in a blur. Not only was she trying to carry out her secret plan, she was also trying to learn some physics and chemistry of the Muggle world. It irked her hugely that Phoenix could be so proficient in something so important, while she herself had almost no knowledge of these thing. She was almost crying from frustration after trying to understand the concepts of energy balance, imbalance, the theory of corpuscles of light, equations for electromagnetism, attempting to learn vector calculus…she had absolutely no idea how Phoenix had managed to learn all this by the age of 12.

The night before the meetings began, Hermione could not sleep. And so therefore decided to wander their admittedly huge suite. Hermione did not often suffer from insomnia, but every now and then, she did. This particular night, while she was wandering, she was quite sure she heard a scream from somewhere. So she followed that sound…and ended up outside Phoenix's bedroom. Now, Hermione was quite sure that Phoenix had never screamed while at Hogwarts, so she tried to open the door—which was locked. Attempting Alohomora, she tried again, but to no avail. Hermione was getting frustrated…but to her surprise, the door opened, and a haggard looking Zach poked his head out.

"What?" he said very irritably.

"Why is Phoenix screaming? How did you know I was here? Why are you here? Aren't your friends worried? Can I come in?"

"Iris has nightmares. She and I charmed this door so we know when someone is trying to open it. I am here because I am her best friend and knows exactly why she is so upset. Chase will make up some excuse for me. No."

"Please, why can't I come in?"

"There are things no one should know, no one should have to suffer through, but Iris has. She does not need more stress."

"I'm her friend too!"

"Less than me. Or Chase. Way less than Stephen."

"Let me in!"

"No."

"You're stubborn."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I know. I just take it as one."

"You're mentally insane."

"Gracias."

"Is there something wrong with you?"

"Definitely."

"You're not even denying it…"

"And I'm not going to."

"I have never met anyone more…crazy than you are."

"Then you have not met the rest of my Science Olympiad team."

"Obviously.'

"Well, you know what they say! 'No self-respecting Science Olympian is ever sane.'"

"Is Phoenix insane?"

"Have you not lived with her for the past seven years?"

"Well, yeah, I have, but…"

"So you should know how insane she is!"

"She _did_ yell at the sky every time it was about to rain. And it was something like, 'Curse you, nimbostratus clouds! May the polarization of electricity never flow through you and cause lightning! And in turn cause electromagnetism, which will no doubt interfere with some Muggle telephone lines somewhere.'"

"Told you she was insane. What sane person yells at the sky, much less yell _science-y_ stuff at the sky?"

"You have me there. What's induction?" Hermione asked rather foolishly. Zach groaned.

"I am _not_ giving you a physics lesson now."

"That's not physics!"

"Yes it is; electricity and magnetism are one of the branches." This time, it was Hermione turn to groan.

And so, for the rest of the night, Hermione and Zach bickered and chatted, while Phoenix stopped screaming for some reason, and Hermione learned more in three hours than she had in three days.

I really appreciate all your comments and reviews. And I would like to encourage everyone to review more…please? Okay, now it sounds like I'm desperate.


	20. Chapter 20: Comfort Where Expected

A/N: A short filler chapter, basically, focusing on Phoenix's and Zach's relationship. A little deep and spiritual though, so be warned. Not really the thing you want to read if you want light and funny. That will be next chapter, I promise. But it's important to the story line, please read? And also, I was feeling kind of depressed today, so.

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

"_I am _not_ giving you a physics lesson now."_

_ "That's not physics!"_

_ "Yes it is; electricity and magnetism are one of the branches." This time, it was Hermione turn to groan. _

_ And so, for the rest of the night, Hermione and Zach bickered and chatted, while Phoenix stopped screaming for some reason, and Hermione learned more in three hours than she had in three days._

**ACTUAL STORY**

The next day, Phoenix awoke way before dawn with a migraine to kill a werewolf and a raw throat. She remembered vividly some of her nightmares…Stephen and her falling through a curtain of lava—literally—trying to survive in a place where literally puking up your guts was normal. Seeing people's innards on the ground was a common sight. And the people who tried to kill them in cold blood…She shivered. She hated those memories, hated that place…but it was one of her last memories with Stephen. And therefore, she cherished every moment of time she could delve back…except it was such a horrible time. So she liked to recall happier days of sitting under trees discussing Bernoulli's Principle and Snell's Law and the Fresnel Equations and Euler's Formula and whatever else. She smiled slightly at one of their discussions on Euler's Formula. That discussion had been priceless…suddenly she felt a tingling sensation. Someone had put a Silencing Charm around her bed and had just removed it. Zach. Only he would have the nerve to do something like that—and he was the only one of her better friends that actually liked teasing her. And he was the only one who could get away with it too. Phoenix remembered once, back in America at Halverson, when Chase had tried to prank her and snorted. He had definitely come off the worse for wear on that one. Remembering Chase's shocked look when his prank backfired on him…priceless. It taught others not to mess with her too. Although she was commonly referred to as the "good girl" and had never received a detention, she herself had pulled quite a few pranks. She had just never gotten caught. Then she realized Zach wasn't next to her. On nights when she couldn't sleep or had nightmares, he would just crawl in with her and sleep with her. There was nothing romantic about it; it was just something that helped. Stephen used to do it too, before he _died_…or not. She would often do the same for them, and this culminated in a friendship far beyond average, especially seeing as all three of their nightmares were very, very similar…for many reasons. They trusted each other implicitly, and never even held a thought of betrayal. So were was Zach? Especially seeing as he had just removed the Silencing Charm…

Zach was chatting amicably to Hermione, until he noticed Iris was awake, and removed the Charm, hastily bidding Hermione good bye. He silently closed the door, counted to ten, and walked back to the bed, sitting down heavily.

"Good morning, I suppose. Are you tired?" Zach inquired, an ever worrying look upon his face. Iris sighed a little.

"Definitely. I couldn't eve fall asleep until midnight last night, and I had horrible nightmares…"

"About that time? When he died, or was it something else?"

"It was that one time that I wasn't careful enough, I got burned and stabbed, you tried to protect me and he was fighting…fighting so hard but we all nearly died anyways, all because of me, and then you tended me and Stephen was singing, and then that arrow came…" Iris choked. Zach pulled her into a hug and stroked her hair. Of them all, Iris had suffered the most in that place. She was wounded the most, hurt mentally the most, the one with the most responsibility, the one that had lost the most. He had been there three times, Stephen had been in there two times, and Iris five times. One time was too much for anyone, two was nearly unbearable, three was so bad most people went insane, but five…Zach didn't know how she had survived, how she had come out sane. Mostly sane. It scared him, seeing her like this, but he knew why she was like this. He had experienced it. He alone now knew of the scars that covered her body. Stephen used to know, but he had died. Except Iris was convinced he wasn't. Zach wanted to believe it, but he couldn't. It was too painful. Right now, he just wanted to keep himself and Iris sane. Iris was paranoid; he supposed she couldn't help it, not after that place, because he himself was paranoid too. But she was more broken than he was, her soul had been ripped apart more, and they were both still trying to pick up the pieces and put it back together. Iris' sobs shuddered through his body. He let her cry on his shoulder; God knew she needed to. And she deserved being able to shed a few tears just because. She never cried in front of anyone but him. He knew how she felt. Her entire family had been ripped away, killed, her friends couldn't help her, her only other true friend had died in that hell…she had no one left but him, and he had no one left but her. Striking, seeing as before the Summit, they hadn't seen each other for two months, and now it felt like they had never been apart in the first place. He supposed trauma did that, pushed people together like nothing else did. Zach had seen what had happened the other two times, because Iris had trusted him enough to show him the memories. It had been horrible. Not quite as bad as the times he had been there, he thought, but still positively heart rending. Perhaps the reason it hadn't been so bad was because the Maker was there with them, but that may have made it worse. And there was the fact that those two times were Iris' first times in there. But it pained him anyways. He could almost feel the pain he had experienced there now. Iris seemed to have run out of tears, because she lifted her head and muttered thanks. Zach ran a hand down her back and whispered, "It's okay," in her ear, and at the same time reassuring himself, because he needed help too, and Phoenix provided that for him whenever he needed it, and he took comfort in comforting her.

For two long hours, they stayed like that, comforting each other, wrapped in each others' arms to find the solace they needed. Finally, a few minutes before dawn broke out, they let go of each other.

"Ah, meetings start today," Phoenix said.

"Don't remind me. I hate official meetings like that. And dress robes? Ugh! Torture," Zach complained. Phoenix grinned. Lives were lost and people were hurt, but some things never change.

Phoenix and Zach had lost their shyness about changing around each other a long time ago, so they had no problem with changing around each other now. Most people would have thought they had romantic feelings for each other, but they didn't. A lot of trauma, a lot of time together, a lot of tending each other's wounds had cured them of basically any shyness or mistrust between them. Not many people had this kind of link, and Phoenix knew that Zach was growing to be her second spirit brother. Well, he already was. He always had been…lucky her. Two spirit brothers, one was dead-not-dead, and the other one was spirit broken, just like her. And so, both were alike, and both felt themselves mending when they were around each other. Their brother/sister love, deftly called Philia love, was also partially unconditional love, because they knew that they would never betray each other. There was no romance between them whatsoever, just…implicit, implicit trust and sibling love. And that could have been why they were both so much more complete than others, even while they themselves were lacking. And so, they protected each other.

Zach knew that Iris had to be feeling better, because she came and gave him a hug and smiled. It was not quite dawn; for the first time in a very long time, he would be watching the dawn with her. He missed it, but now he could experience it again. The two of them went out onto the balcony and watched as the sun poked slim pink fingers over the horizon. The moon relented easily and sank back down, waiting for night when her domain would be open again. They looked past the sky and mingled their essences with Everything and Nothing until the four of them were one, and saw Everything and Nothing and Zach and Phoenix, saw the way Zach was a bridge that connected both Everything and Nothing, saw how Phoenix stretched to pull Zach towards her to connect, saw how helpless Everything was to stop the dance of the bridge and the child, and Everything knew it had lost the Bridge, it was wholly part of Nothing now, to replace the Child that Nothing had lost. And yet Nothing had not quite lost this child. It was only a matter of time before he returned, and Nothing would have three Children, and only two would be matched to the heart.

Phoenix smiled. She loved Zach, and she saw him as her twin brother, even though he was a few months older than she was. He was completely understanding of everything, and she loved how he would go through hell and back just to see her safe. Seeing as that had actually happened, she supposed the only way to thank him now was to do the same for him, which she had, and had not regretted a moment of it.

What happened to Phoenix, Zach, and Stephen? That's a story I'!m working on right now. It'll be up in one or two days. It will be called "Dreams Don't Turn To Dust—Except Here". Long title, but…anyways, please review


	21. Chapter 21: More Problems

A/N: Sorry for the lack of update. I was busy, my computer kind of crashed with 300+ Trojans (what the heck?), and I have relatives visiting. But most importantly, my Muse decided to leave me hanging with nothing to hold on to. It went on vacation for a little while, and in its absence, I have been unable to write very well. In other words, I had writers' block. Sorry.

I have found I have an irritating habit of putting Author's Notes in the middle of sentences. Please bear with me about that. I just find other ways so…ineffective.

And also, I must thank all my reviewers. I know I haven't been recognizing you in a while, for that I am extremely sorry. But do know that you feed my Muse, even if she's on vacation. "**glares at Muse sitting next to me**"

Happy Reading.

Please Review.

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Recap:

_Phoenix smiled. She loved Zach, and she saw him as her twin brother, even though he was a few months older than she was. He was completely understanding of everything, and she loved how he would go through hell and back just to see her safe. Seeing as that had actually happened, she supposed the only way to thank him now was to do the same for him, which she had, and had not regretted a moment of it._

**ACTUAL STORY**

Draco moaned as he got out of bed after having a pillow thrown at him by Blaise.

"Get up, Slytherin Prince, Robert's just called us and is slightly annoyed that you're not up."

"Oh God," Draco muttered. Robert was really terrible when it came to temper control and whatever else, as they had found out in their five days here. "Slightly annoyed" describing Robert coming from Blaise probably meant that Draco was probably going to get a huge yelling-at, and then get glared at the rest of the day. With a groan, he remembered that meetings started today.

"My father's going to kill me. If Robert doesn't kill me first."

"Yeah…he looked kind of mad. Started muttering about 'lazy idiots who don't know when to get up to save their lives'."

"Yup, I'm done for."

"Stop talking and get up already." Blaise walked out of the room. Mumbling, Draco got up and pulled on his robes. If Robert was going to be horrible to him today, then he would have to be horrible to Potter…oh yes. Just thinking about taunts and things that he could do to Pothead made his spirits rise. Maybe he liked Herm—Granger, but that didn't mean that he liked her friends…in fact, he absolutely despised them. He spent special time on his hair, making him even later than he needed to be. God, he was going to get it from Robert today.

Sure enough, as soon as Draco stepped out of his bedroom, looking immaculate, Robert stood in front of him, glaring at him. He took a deep breath (Here we go, thought Draco), and then—

"DO YOU NOT KNOW TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF MEETINGS? DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU NEARLY MADE US MISS BREAKFAST? DO YOU KNOW THAT PERRY AND DR. WILLIAMS WILL HAVE MY HEAD IF THE REPRESENTATIVES ARE MISSING? THE ENTIRE EUROPEAN DELEGATION IS LATE! BECAUSE OF YOU! DURMSTRANG AND BEAUXBATONS ARE CURRENTLY IN THEIR ROOMS WONDERING WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING BECAUSE WE AREN'T GOING TO BREAKFAST! AND BESIDES ALL THAT, I AM FREAKING STARVING!"

"We haven't even had breakfast yet, why're you so worried?" Draco said bluntly. He shouldn't have said that. Robert looked positively furious and Draco cringed under the force of his next tirade.

"YOU BLITHERING IDIOT! THE PEOPLE MAKE SPEECHES ABOUT EVERYTHING AT BREAKFAST! YOU MISS BREAKFAST, YOU MISS ALL THE IMPORTANT STUFF! AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE _INTELLIGENT_? OR DO I NEED TO PUT SOME BRAINS IN YOU? I WOULDN'T MIND CUTTING OPEN YOUR HEAD RIGHT NOW TO SEE WHAT'S IN IT, YOU MORONIC, IDIOTIC, STUPID, BRAINLESS, DIM-WITTED, HALF-BAKED, FOOLISH, IMPUDENT, IMPRUDENT (A/N: different words. They have different meanings, they just sound similar), THOUGHTLESS, IMPERTINENT, PRESUMPTOUS, FOOLHARDY, INSOLENT, TACTLESS DENSE, CARELESS, LACKADAISICAL, SLAPDASH EXCUSE FOR A REPRESENTATIVE!"

"Geez, okay, I get it. You're mad, I'm sorry, we're hungry, we need to get to breakfast. Let's drop it, all right?" Draco said. Robert huffed and left. Blaise came to stand by Draco, counting on his fingers.

"Mate, he just insulted you in about twenty different ways in one sentence. Nineteen descriptive words, and then the "excuse for a representative" part."

"Good to know. Where did he pick up all that vocabulary anyways? And be able to remember it off the top of his head?"

"Dunno, and don't want to know."

"What does "lackadaisical" even mean?"

"I don't know, but judging from the fact that he called you that while he was mad, it isn't something very nice."

"Hmph. Well, let's go, Robert will yell at us again if we don't hurry up."

And so, they found themselves walking down to breakfast with some confused European delegates and a positively fuming Robert who stalked ahead furiously.

"What'd you do this time, Malfoy?" Harry hissed, eyes narrowed.

"_I_ didn't do anything. However, maybe he caught sight of your hideous face and is consequently in a horrible mood." Harry positively glowered. Malfoy smirked and walked away, Blaise right beside him. Harry turned to Ron.

"Can you _believe_ the gall of that git?" Harry sputtered. "I didn't do anything!" Ron nodded sympathetically.

Meanwhile, Hermione was trying to find a good way to apologize to Draco without any of her friends finding out. Except Ginny, because she already knew, but still. She sighed in frustration. She may have been one of the most brilliant witches at Hogwarts and excellent at relationships, but she had serious trouble figuring out what she should do now without making anyone suspicious. Yeah, fat chance of that…she would rather not apologize to Draco at present moment than let Ron or Harry know about her and Draco's relationship. She sighed again. It was like trying to figure out physics all over again…only worse because this was her boyfriend, not something she could just look over again and again and hope to understand, that that she would have infinitesimal chances at. She thought that maybe Draco wasn't that mad at her…and then thought better of that. Ach, she would deal with it later.

It turned out that Robert was right. The entire Summit was waiting for them when they arrived, earning them a lot of glares. Draco had been brought up a Malfoy, so therefore, looked down on them slightly, while Robert looked very angry. He sat down with a swish of his robes that would have made Snape proud and avoided looking at Draco.

About as soon as the European delegation sat down, Dr. Matthews started talking eagerly—and then Albus Dumbledore swept through the doors. Murmurs rippled throughout the room. Professor Dumbledore smiled benignly at everyone, walking up to the table with the staff seated at it, shaking Dr. Matthew's hand. Dr. Matthews looked delighted.

"May I introduce Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, chief warlock of the Wizengamot, Order of the Merlin First Class, founder of the Order of the Phoenix, et cetera et cetera?" Everyone applauded, and Dumbledore bowed and sat down. Hermione grinned. Who would have known? Dumbledore, at the Summit when he should be at Hogwarts attending to all the students and teachers? Well, she supposed that Dumbledore couldn't very well miss one of the most important events of the Wizarding World, seeing as a Summit was held only once every twenty years. Well, technically there was one every year, but only once every twenty years did every magical school in the world send representatives, and do a little lawmaking. She wondered who the last batch had been...and then realized that twenty years ago, Harry's parents had been the Head Boy and Girl, which probably meant that Lily and James Potter had attended the last Summit, and recalling the Marauders, she was pretty sure that the last delegation from Hogwarts consisted of Lily Evans, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and three others that she didn't know.

As soon as Dr. Matthew was done talking (the room of the meeting, the rest of everything that needed to be covered), the talking in the room started up and people started eating, some inhumanly fast (Ron), and some picking at their food (Draco). But as soon as Robert finished eating, he took no heed of the rest of the people and just forced everyone else in the European delegation to stop eating and follow him. He led them through another set of labyrinthine halls and corridors and stopped in front of a door.

"This is the meetings room. One school per table. Hogwarts is school 21, which means sit at the table marked 21. Durmstrang is 20. Beauxbatons is 19. No messing around. This actually affects the world...and this is the first lawmaking session we've had since You-Know-Who's downfall. So, no fooling." He swept them all in, seating them at their respective tables and whatnot. And guess what? They were the first there.

Slowly, the room filled up, and the meeting began. They started with werewolf, giant, merpeople, vampire, goblin, ghoul, and ghost rights. Remus, of course, officiated this, being the interspecies missionary and a werewolf himself. They moved on to broomstick regulation, then rating of books, then cauldron standards, then wand standards, then school regulations, and so on.

By the end of the day, everyone was thoroughly tired and exhausted. Hermione cornered Draco in the living roon as soon as they got back to the suite (everyone else had gone to hear Phoenix practice violin, and Zach was up here again, so.)

"Listen, Draco, I'm really sorry for looking through your private things without asking, I won't do it again. I'm really sorry."

"'S fine, Hermione. Anyways, I give you permission to read through all that and everything. Have fun sifting through my memories."

"Thank you!" Hermione cried, throwing her arms around Draco, and then kissing him soundly, that wonderful fluttery feeling in her belly again, that sensation she was falling forever. Draco kissed back, and they were soon lost in the kiss. When they finally stopped to breathe, Hermione was smiling shyly, and Draco was gazing right back, as much lost in the brown depths as Hermione was lost in the silver pools, arms still around each other. A sudden clearing of a throat made them jump apart.

Harry and Ron stood there, both beet red and very angry looking.

"Well, I didn't notice that, I'll go away then, and leave you two to your own activities, then," Harry said, snarling a little and turning away. Ron follows.

"Oh no," Hermione muttered. She released Draco and ran after them.

Hermione found Harry and Ron in Ron's bedroom, sitting on the bed, looking shell-shocked and more than a little pissed. Before Hermione could even say anything, Ron jumped up.

"So, tell us, then, how long have you been dating Ferret Face? How long were you going to keep it a secret? Why are you even socializing with the enemy like that? Aren't you loyal at all? And aren't you supposed to be brave to be in Gryffindor? Well, you're neither loyal or brave, going out with Malfoy and then not telling us!"

"That's because I knew you were going to be like this—completely misunderstanding and shoving me away and treating poor Draco even worse."

"Oh, POOR DRACO now, is he?" Ron yelled in fury. "When did you become more Slytherin than Gryffindor? He's a slimy bastard!"

"Ron, just—just shut up!" Hermione yelled, hurt.

"No, I will not shut up! Hermione, you betrayed us! You sided with the enemy! That's not okay!"

"Yes it is, Draco is a really good person if you would try to know him!"

"He's a bloody git; that's all he is and all he'll ever be!"

"Stop it, Ron! Just because you're cruel and controlling doesn't mean everyone has to listen to you!"

"NO! Hermione, he's the bloody enemy! You can't betray us like this!"

"You have no right telling me what to do and what not to do, Ronald Bilius Weasley!" Hermione raged and stormed out of the room. Harry had watched the entire fight without saying a single word. God, Hermione wanted Ron to just go to hell right now! Her life was her life, not his! What right did he have to come sticking his nose in everywhere? She stalked to her bedroom and flopped on the bed. Ugh, this was so horrible. She loved Ron and Harry (as friends, of course), but there were times when they were both such idiots! And those times happened a lot. She was miserable. Then, someone knocked on her door.

"Come in," she sighed. Phoenix and Zach walked in.

"Are you all right, Hermione?" Phoenix asked kindly.

"No! Harry and Ron hate me..."

"No they don't, Hermione. They're just a little upset," Zach told her. Hermione started to cry. Her door opened again, and Draco stepped in.

"Are you all right, love?" he said softly. Phoenix and Zach exchanged a glance and left.

"No, not really," Hermione said, nearly breaking down. "It's just that...they won't accept us at all, and it's really not fair. I'm going to be losing my two best friends..."

"It'll be alright, Hermione. Things will look better in the morning. They always do." Hermione nodded.

"Thanks. I just...I mean, they're so upset and all..."

"Hermione, stop it and go to sleep."

"I don't think I'll be able to fall asleep...not like this."

"Do you want me to stay with you?"

"What:

"I said, do you want me stay with you tonight? It'll help. I'll even sing."

"Okay...thanks, Draco."

"No problem, love. Come now, time for bed."

And so, with a few words of comfort, some songs, and a little coaxing, Hermione fell asleep wrapped around Draco, smiling softly. Drac0 looked at the beautiful creature in his arms and resolved to make her life the best he could.

A bit short…my next one will be longer, I promise! Why I didn't elaborate on the meetings—I doubt that many of you have the patience to sit through cauldron bottom reports. It would be just horrible. Horrible and boring. Besides, all the good stuff happens outside of meetings. Note: Please try reading Dreams Don't Turn to Dust.


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